| 2018 International Conference on Education and Global Studies - Summer Session (IConEGS 2018-Summer) Bangkok, Thailand, August 8-10, 2018 http://soci-science.org/ We cordially invite you and your colleagues to participate and submit papers to 2018 International Conference on Education and Global Studies - Summer Session (IConEGS 2018 - Summer) which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, August 8-10, 2018. We welcome submissions from all over the world and we encourage you to join us in Bangkok, Thailand to share your research and knowledge. To submit abstracts/papers for presentation or participate as an audience member, please visit the conference website for more details. All submissions will be subject to a double-blind review process. All accepted manuscripts will be published in the conference proceedings, under an ISSN reference, on CD-ROM support. Please join us in Bangkok, Thailand for the great academic events. IConEGS will be held together with the other two conferences. These two conferences are BITE 2018: https://soci-science.org/bite LIS 2018: https://soci-science.org/lis The objectives of the conference are: 1. Provide a platform for the researchers to seek further opinions, comments, and suggestions. 2. Contribute knowledge in the fields of Education and Global Studies. 3. Provide wider opportunities for participants to interact and create networking. 4. Deliver your research findings to global audiences. 5. Participate in a truly international, interdisciplinary and intercultural event. Bangkok, the Thai capital, is one of the world's top tourist destination cities. Bangkok's multi-faceted sights, attractions and city life appeal to diverse groups of tourists. MasterCard ranked Bangkok as the global top destination city by international visitor arrivals in 2016 and 2017. All participants not only will have a fruitful stay at the conference, but also an enjoyable stay at the city of Bangkok. Conference Website: http://soci-science.org/ Online Submission: https://my-ecase.org/iconegs- Enquiries: egs.summer@gmail.com Submission Deadline: April 22, 2018 Conference Chairs Yuka Kawasaki, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan Conference Co-chairs Lea Caragata, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada Matthew P. Downs, Kasetsart University, Thailand Tony S. Kuo, Shih Chien University, Taiwan George Saltsman, Lamar University, USA |
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
2018 International Conference on Education and Global Studies
Monday, November 20, 2017
Using Game Theory to Settle Conflict-Does it Apply to North Korea?
Conflict is about disagreement over who has rights over something, deserving of receiving something, or who is limited in future actions. When conflict makes its way into a pitched battle there will need to be a solution at some point or future conflict is likely. Game Theory can help in making better predictions about what type of actions can lead to advantageous outcomes with an opponent like North Korea.
What we do know is that decision makers won't make compromise unless they either have insight of a future outcome or they are put within a position where a compromise is their best outcome. We have seen this in war and our personal lives where self-seeking behavior is curbed through carrot and stick approaches. How those carrot and stick pressures are created should be created through Game Theory.
Game theory can be a tool of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers (Bockova, Slavikova & Porubcanova, 2016). It seems to predict rational behavior based on a large table of different motivations and outcomes. Let us just hope that everyone is rational or otherwise problems might arise when information is misinterpreted in a semi-delusional manner.
Each player has something to gain or to lose from conflict. Typically conflicts arise through differences in desire and need. As the players work and move against, and sometimes in cooperation with each other, they will create windows of opportunities. The players that recognize these opportunities can leverage their position to gain advantages that lead to future outcomes. Eventually, the game ends when continued playing leads to a high likelihood of loss and players seek to settle while they still have some leverage.
Let us use North Korea as an example. In this scenario there is North Korea, U.S., China, and the International Community involved in a "war game". As a country already secluded from the rest of the world, it is unlikely that further sanctions will work unless those sanctions close North Korea's black market and push China to discontinue all but humanitarian trade.
The game is complex and many players have their own needs making the game a symphony of movement. Within this chaos it is possible to open little cracks of opportunities for North Korea that encourages them to unwittingly take positions that appear to be in their short-term advantage. Yet in their effort to find advantage they become "boxed in" to a position that will be difficult for them to escape once new pressures are created.
Pushing North Korea to willingly make pro-social choices means creating opportunities and punishments that allow them to "save face" during the conflict. The wider strategy may be unknown to them as they jump through political hoops that eventually lead to an agreement, inspection and dismantling of nuclear weapons. Failure to move through the "windows of opportunity" will mean eventual regime change, forcible dismantling, and complete shunning by the international community.
To use game theory in this situation in a way that will lead to an eventual positive outcome it is necessary to engage China and work in a cooperative manner. As long as China continues to passively accept such bad actor behavior and territorial influence protections there will continually be a "life line" to North Korea. They can use their "paternalistic" view of North Korea to influence their decision making. The current path is full of conflict and has a high likelihood of multiple losers in the game. At this point, both China and the U.S. have opportunities to achieve what they want if they mutually create the pressures, punishments, and opportunities for North Korea. The zero-sum game of forcibly removing these weapons is used as a pressure but not necessarily the main strategy.
Blockova, K., Slavikova, G. & Prorubcanova, D. (2016). Game Theory as a Tool of Conflict and Cooperation Solution between Intelligent Rational Decision-Makers in Project Management. International Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10 (4).
What we do know is that decision makers won't make compromise unless they either have insight of a future outcome or they are put within a position where a compromise is their best outcome. We have seen this in war and our personal lives where self-seeking behavior is curbed through carrot and stick approaches. How those carrot and stick pressures are created should be created through Game Theory.
Game theory can be a tool of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers (Bockova, Slavikova & Porubcanova, 2016). It seems to predict rational behavior based on a large table of different motivations and outcomes. Let us just hope that everyone is rational or otherwise problems might arise when information is misinterpreted in a semi-delusional manner.
Each player has something to gain or to lose from conflict. Typically conflicts arise through differences in desire and need. As the players work and move against, and sometimes in cooperation with each other, they will create windows of opportunities. The players that recognize these opportunities can leverage their position to gain advantages that lead to future outcomes. Eventually, the game ends when continued playing leads to a high likelihood of loss and players seek to settle while they still have some leverage.
Let us use North Korea as an example. In this scenario there is North Korea, U.S., China, and the International Community involved in a "war game". As a country already secluded from the rest of the world, it is unlikely that further sanctions will work unless those sanctions close North Korea's black market and push China to discontinue all but humanitarian trade.
The game is complex and many players have their own needs making the game a symphony of movement. Within this chaos it is possible to open little cracks of opportunities for North Korea that encourages them to unwittingly take positions that appear to be in their short-term advantage. Yet in their effort to find advantage they become "boxed in" to a position that will be difficult for them to escape once new pressures are created.
Pushing North Korea to willingly make pro-social choices means creating opportunities and punishments that allow them to "save face" during the conflict. The wider strategy may be unknown to them as they jump through political hoops that eventually lead to an agreement, inspection and dismantling of nuclear weapons. Failure to move through the "windows of opportunity" will mean eventual regime change, forcible dismantling, and complete shunning by the international community.
To use game theory in this situation in a way that will lead to an eventual positive outcome it is necessary to engage China and work in a cooperative manner. As long as China continues to passively accept such bad actor behavior and territorial influence protections there will continually be a "life line" to North Korea. They can use their "paternalistic" view of North Korea to influence their decision making. The current path is full of conflict and has a high likelihood of multiple losers in the game. At this point, both China and the U.S. have opportunities to achieve what they want if they mutually create the pressures, punishments, and opportunities for North Korea. The zero-sum game of forcibly removing these weapons is used as a pressure but not necessarily the main strategy.
Blockova, K., Slavikova, G. & Prorubcanova, D. (2016). Game Theory as a Tool of Conflict and Cooperation Solution between Intelligent Rational Decision-Makers in Project Management. International Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10 (4).
Protecting Against Group Think in Our Nation's Top Leadership
Air Force Gen. John Hyten stated that he would not follow an illegal order to use nukes. That puts many of us at ease a little, but when conflict arises and retaliation is desired by top leadership and society, it may be difficult sway the tide of pressure. We have seen this occur in situations of high political and personal pressure to act without thinking through the alternatives. There are ways to limit the threats of "group think" when making important decisions.
Whether you are a business executive running a strategic team that makes important decisions, top brass in the military, or a president of a country it is important to ensure that bias and pressures of thinking don't change the fate of the enterprise. There are a few methods below to help reduce risk by incorporating different types of people and methodologies of coming to a conclusion
1.) Encourage reasonable opinions of descent.
2.) Ensure one person doesn't have undo power to speak over others or discount their opinion.
3.) Protect against retaliation or removal from the team for non-conforming opinions.
4.) Ensure that participants have different types of personalities.
5.) Ensure that participants have different skills, education and fields.
6.) Create a charter that protects opinions and investigates alternative options as a standard methodology before implementation.
7.) Look for divergent thinkers that form opinions based on multiple types of information.
8.) Question data. Work off of "fact" as much as possible. When facts are not available further investigation and due diligence is needed.
9.) Provide for multiple discussions and delays before implementation.
10.) Seek outside expert opinions.
Whether you are a business executive running a strategic team that makes important decisions, top brass in the military, or a president of a country it is important to ensure that bias and pressures of thinking don't change the fate of the enterprise. There are a few methods below to help reduce risk by incorporating different types of people and methodologies of coming to a conclusion
1.) Encourage reasonable opinions of descent.
2.) Ensure one person doesn't have undo power to speak over others or discount their opinion.
3.) Protect against retaliation or removal from the team for non-conforming opinions.
4.) Ensure that participants have different types of personalities.
5.) Ensure that participants have different skills, education and fields.
6.) Create a charter that protects opinions and investigates alternative options as a standard methodology before implementation.
7.) Look for divergent thinkers that form opinions based on multiple types of information.
8.) Question data. Work off of "fact" as much as possible. When facts are not available further investigation and due diligence is needed.
9.) Provide for multiple discussions and delays before implementation.
10.) Seek outside expert opinions.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Lessons from Sailing-How to Master the Art of Defeat?
We were done! The race was over and we lost! Our ship fell behind. While we didn't win we were able to master defeat.
It didn't take us long to pull the main sail down and start concentrating on tweaking the jib to get us home. While we are not happy we did learn something about overpower the boat and pushing the limits without being prepared to suffer the consequences.
The Art of Defeat?
1.) Understand that you can't always win and losing can prepare you to win.
2.) While it seems to be very important at that time the feelings will pass.
3.) Analyze what went wrong and fit is for the future.
4.) Never assess blame because there are often multiple causes and lack of training at the root.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Why I'm a Lover of Costco?
I'm a Costco member and I can say that while my family size has changed and adjusted I stayed a member. There have been varying times when I purchased more products or less but at the end of the day I continue to frequent their stores. There are three things I love about Costco.
1.) Confidence in Quality and Returns: Costco ensures that products are of high quality before they are sold. If at any point the product is worn out they will return it with no questions asked. This raises my trust of the organization.
2.) Customer Service: Costco provides above average customer service. Almost all of my visits were positive. The one poor interaction was based on an individual employee that was not having a good day.
3.) Trendy: Most of their products are very trendy. The brands are solid and they are in style. They may not be in style for someone 18 years old but they are great for people in their 30-50s.
1.) Confidence in Quality and Returns: Costco ensures that products are of high quality before they are sold. If at any point the product is worn out they will return it with no questions asked. This raises my trust of the organization.
2.) Customer Service: Costco provides above average customer service. Almost all of my visits were positive. The one poor interaction was based on an individual employee that was not having a good day.
3.) Trendy: Most of their products are very trendy. The brands are solid and they are in style. They may not be in style for someone 18 years old but they are great for people in their 30-50s.
The 4 Categories of People and Luxury Products
People often signal their status through the products they purchase (Han, Nunes & Dreze, 2010). They can be separated into 4 major groups:
1. Wealthy consumers who do not need status but want to signal to their own social crowd with quiet goods only other wealthy people recognize.
2. Wealthy consumers high in need for status who use "loud" luxury goods to signal to less influence they are "higher" than them.
3. People who cannot afford true luxury goods but use "loud" counterfeits to show others they should be perceived as "wealthy".
4. Those who don't care about wealth status and could care less if they associate with the wealthy or poor.
There are different type of people with different kinds of personality. Some only want to be part of their own crowd and have no negative view of people with less influence. Still, there are others regardless of whether they have money or not, that must look like they have money. Personally, I always found the big "Gucci" letters sort of obnoxious. It sort of screams "look at me" which indicates a lower sense of self.
Wiedmann, K. et. al. (2013). Creating Multi-Sensory Experiences in Luxury Marketing. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 30, (6).
Han, Y., Nunes, J. & Dreze, X. (2010). Signaling Status with Luxury Goods: The Role of Brand Prominence. Journal of Marketing, 74 (4).
Thursday, November 16, 2017
How Much Time Should Professors Spend on Writing Versus Core Content?
Writing is increasingly becoming critically important for future career aspirations as more and more information is being sent via written letter. Whether one is turning on their computer, or reading a company email, they are inundated with written messages. As college professors, we often fight with ourselves over how much time we should spend on writing and how much on core content learning.
Knowing the Topic and Communicating It
I have found through business life that if a person can't communicate what they know well, then they don't likely know the topic thoroughly. Clarity and conciseness, assuming no physical or mental impairments, is one sign the student doesn't have depth. They are unable to form a concise image in their heads to explain to others in a way that is meaningful.
Clarity of Thought and Clarity of Writing
Furthermore, clarity in writing parallels clarity in thought. If the script is broad and not specific, then the knowledge is also general and not concise. If the paper doesn't provide some application of the material, then they are also unlikely to know how to apply it to their work lives.
Headings Teaches Us to Break Down Ideas
There are also those pesky little things like headings that separate main ideas. When these are missing all of the paper runs together. When this occurs, one has not mastered how to break concepts down into themes and explain them well to others so they may understand it well.
While I do not advocate grading mostly on writing, I do believe it is vitally important to learn writing skills that lead to clarity of thought and understanding. That doesn't mean I am the best writer or know all the grammatical rules, as I am not an English teacher. However, I can write a robust email and a more extended paper that breaks ideas down so others can understand them. In business, one will need to communicate to a broader group of people and having writing skills is essential for sharing one's knowledge and taking on management positions that direct the actions of others.
Knowing the Topic and Communicating It
I have found through business life that if a person can't communicate what they know well, then they don't likely know the topic thoroughly. Clarity and conciseness, assuming no physical or mental impairments, is one sign the student doesn't have depth. They are unable to form a concise image in their heads to explain to others in a way that is meaningful.
Clarity of Thought and Clarity of Writing
Furthermore, clarity in writing parallels clarity in thought. If the script is broad and not specific, then the knowledge is also general and not concise. If the paper doesn't provide some application of the material, then they are also unlikely to know how to apply it to their work lives.
Headings Teaches Us to Break Down Ideas
There are also those pesky little things like headings that separate main ideas. When these are missing all of the paper runs together. When this occurs, one has not mastered how to break concepts down into themes and explain them well to others so they may understand it well.
While I do not advocate grading mostly on writing, I do believe it is vitally important to learn writing skills that lead to clarity of thought and understanding. That doesn't mean I am the best writer or know all the grammatical rules, as I am not an English teacher. However, I can write a robust email and a more extended paper that breaks ideas down so others can understand them. In business, one will need to communicate to a broader group of people and having writing skills is essential for sharing one's knowledge and taking on management positions that direct the actions of others.
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