Strategy exhibits a pervasive commitment to the belief that the best approach to adopt in dealing with affairs of the world is to confront, overcome and subjugate things to conform to our will, control and eventual mastery. Performance is about sustaining distinctiveness. This direct and deliberate approach draws inspiration from ancient Greek roots and has become orthodoxy. Yet there are downsides. This book shows why. Using examples from the world of business, economics, military strategy, politics and philosophy, it argues that success may inadvertently emerge from the everyday coping actions of a multitude of individuals, none of whom intended to contribute to any preconceived design. A consequence of this claim is that a paradox exists in strategic interventions, one that no strategist can afford to ignore. The more single-mindedly a strategic goal is sought, the more likely such calculated instrumental action eventually works to undermine its own initial success.
Many scientific, medical or engineering problems raise the issue of recovering some physical quantities from indirect measurements; for instance, detecting or quantifying flaws or cracks within a mate
This book is intended to provide the reader with a firm conceptual and empirical understanding of basic information-theoretic econometric models and methods. Because most data are observational, practitioners work with indirect noisy observations and ill-posed econometric models in the form of stochastic inverse problems. Consequently, traditional econometric methods in many cases are not applicable for answering many of the quantitative questions that analysts wish to ask. After initial chapters deal with parametric and semiparametric linear probability models, the focus turns to solving nonparametric stochastic inverse problems. In succeeding chapters, a family of power divergence measure-likelihood functions are introduced for a range of traditional and nontraditional econometric-model problems. Finally, within either an empirical maximum likelihood or loss context, Ron C. Mittelhammer and George G. Judge suggest a basis for choosing a member of the divergence family.
This book presents an approach to introductory graduate courses on atomic structure. The author's approach utilizes conceptually powerful semiclassical modeling methods, and demonstrates the degree to which the Maslov-indexed EBK quantization elucidates the quantum mechanical formulation of level energies and lifetimes. It merges this with an update and extension of semiempirical data systematizations developed by Bengt Edlén to describe complex atoms, and adapts them to include the specification of lifetimes. The text emphasizes the historical basis of the nomenclature and methodologies of spectroscopy. However, interaction mechanisms are presented deductively, based on quantum mechanical and field theoretical models, rather than tracing their indirect paths of discovery. Many worked examples provide applications to areas such as astrophysics, hyperfine structure, and coherent anisotropic excitation. The book presents a firm foundation for specialists in atomic physics, as well as a c
This book is intended to provide the reader with a firm conceptual and empirical understanding of basic information-theoretic econometric models and methods. Because most data are observational, practitioners work with indirect noisy observations and ill-posed econometric models in the form of stochastic inverse problems. Consequently, traditional econometric methods in many cases are not applicable for answering many of the quantitative questions that analysts wish to ask. After initial chapters deal with parametric and semiparametric linear probability models, the focus turns to solving nonparametric stochastic inverse problems. In succeeding chapters, a family of power divergence measure-likelihood functions are introduced for a range of traditional and nontraditional econometric-model problems. Finally, within either an empirical maximum likelihood or loss context, Ron C. Mittelhammer and George G. Judge suggest a basis for choosing a member of the divergence family.
This book presents an approach to introductory graduate courses on atomic structure. The author's approach utilizes conceptually powerful semiclassical modeling methods, and demonstrates the degree to which the Maslov-indexed EBK quantization elucidates the quantum mechanical formulation of level energies and lifetimes. It merges this with an update and extension of semiempirical data systematizations developed by Bengt Edlén to describe complex atoms, and adapts them to include the specification of lifetimes. The text emphasizes the historical basis of the nomenclature and methodologies of spectroscopy. However, interaction mechanisms are presented deductively, based on quantum mechanical and field theoretical models, rather than tracing their indirect paths of discovery. Many worked examples provide applications to areas such as astrophysics, hyperfine structure, and coherent anisotropic excitation. The book presents a firm foundation for specialists in atomic physics, as well as a c
Sharī'a is one of the most hotly contested and misunderstood concepts and practices in the world today. Debates about Islamic law and its relationship to secularism and Christianity have dominated political and theological discourse for centuries. Unfortunately, Western Christian theologians have failed to engage sufficiently with the challenges and questions raised by Islamic political theology, preferring instead to essentialize or dismiss it. In Law and the Rule of God, Joshua Ralston presents an innovative approach to Christian-Muslim dialogue. Eschewing both polemics and apologetics, he proposes a comparative framework for Christian engagement with Islamic debates on sharī'a. Ralston draws on a diverse range of thinkers from both traditions including Karl Barth, Ibn Taymiyya, Thomas Aquinas, and Mohammad al-Jabri. He offers an account of public law as a provisional and indirect witness to the divine rule of justice. He also demonstrates how this theology of public law deeply reson
Multitrophic interactions are now recognised as being of the utmost importance in understanding the complexity of the natural world. However, their complex nature had often been a barrier to their study as they require research teams composed of workers often with very disparate interests. This book therefore takes a multidisciplinary approach to complex interactions across many trophic levels and includes authors from disciplines as diverse as mycology, entomology, nematology, population ecology and theoretical ecology. Throughout, the direct and indirect interactions between organisms from different trophic levels are emphasised in comprehensive reviews, bringing a fresh, collaborative approach to community ecology. The book is ideal for those seeking an overview of our understanding of mulittrophic interactions as well as directions for future research.
Writing Well is a practical handbook of creative writing exercises which forms the basis of an indirect, nonconfrontational approach specifically intended for therapeutic use within the mental health
This is a practical 'how to' handbook for osteopathic students and practitioners. The approach is based upon cranial osteopathic principles and provides the application of indirect, functional osteopa
Environmental public health is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the direct and indirect impact of exposure to environmental hazards on the public's health and wellbeing. Assessing and add
Beyond Anger is a detailed literary analysis of the three poems which make up Juvenal's third book of Satires (i.e. Satires 7, 8 and 9). Dr Braund pays particular attention to the satiric techniques Juvenal employs in this book, arguing that in Book III Juvenal uses a new, ironic persona, which makes his satire more indirect, subtle and double-edged than does the angry approach found in the earlier books. This is an in-depth treatment of Juvenal's third book of Satires, which has previously suffered neglect from scholars. It also gives a welcome overview of the development of Juvenal's satiric output.
Dual arguments have become a standard tool for analysis of problems involving optimization by consumers and producers. The principal aim of this book is to provide a fairly systematic yet simple exposition of the basic structure of such arguments. The emphasis is not on providing mathematically general proofs; instead, a geometric approach is used to provide, in an informal way, an intuitive understanding of duality theory. This book introduces the most common alternative ways of representing preferences and technologies, such as indirect utility and distance functions, expenditure and cost functions, and profit and revenue functions. and it discusses the assumptions under which alternative formulations contain precisely the same information. Results such as Roy's identity. the Hotelling-Wold identity, and Shephard's lemma are fully explained. as are their roles in facilitating analysis of behaviour.
Beyond Anger is a detailed literary analysis of the three poems which make up Juvenal's third book of Satires (i.e. Satires 7, 8 and 9). Dr Braund pays particular attention to the satiric techniques Juvenal employs in this book, arguing that in Book III Juvenal uses a new, ironic persona, which makes his satire more indirect, subtle and double-edged than does the angry approach found in the earlier books. This is an in-depth treatment of Juvenal's third book of Satires, which has previously suffered neglect from scholars. It also gives a welcome overview of the development of Juvenal's satiric output.
The Fabian Society was founded in the early 1880s. Its members included Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and, for a time, the remarkable Annie Besant. From its position somewhere between Marxist socialism and Radical Liberalism it was able to exercise pressure on many political organisations and among its indirect achievements were the founding of the London School of economics, the Legislation for Poor Law Reform, and the introduction of Old Age Pensions. This book is both a critical exposition of Fabian Socialism and an analysis of its role in English politics. Dr McBriar explains the Society's origins, discusses its contribution to economics and to historical and social theory, and examines its views on the collectivist state, its attitude to international problems, and its approach to the fundamental questions of political philosophy. He then goes on to assess the influence of the Fabians on the politics of London government and the policies of the Liberal party,
Scholars typically emphasize the importance of organized networks and long-term relationships for sustaining electoral clientelism. Yet electoral clientelism remains widespread in many countries despite the weakening of organized parties. This book offers a new account of how clientelism and campaigning work in weak party systems and in the absence of stable party-broker relationships. Drawing on an in-depth study of Peru using a mixed methods approach and cross-national comparisons, Muñoz reveals the informational and indirect effects of investments made at the campaign stage. By distributing gifts, politicians buy the participation of poor voters at campaign events. This helps politicians improvise political organizations, persuade poor voters of candidates' desirability, and signal electoral viability to strategic donors and voters, with campaign dynamics ultimately shaping electoral outcomes. Among other contributions, the book sheds new light on role of donations and business acto
