College of Business and Law

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11 Years with wearables: Qantitative analysis of social media, academia, news agencies, and lead user community from 2009-2020 on wearable technologies
(Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2021-03) Gan, Yanglei; Wang, Tianyi; Javaheri, Alireza; Momeni-Ortner, Elaheh; Dehghani, Milad; Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi; Rawassizadeh, Reza
The role of wearable technology in our daily lives is rapidly growing and many users are cumulatively becoming dependent on it. To provide insight into the future of wearable technologies and various community attitudes towards them, we implemented an in-depth quantitative investigation of opinions from academic texts (DBLP and PubMed), social media (Twitter), news media (Google News and Bing News), and entrepreneurship communities (Kickstarter and Indiegogo) over a 10-year period. Our results indicate that unlike academia, the news media, entrepreneurship communities, and social media all hold overall positive attitudes towards wearable technologies. Secondly, there are diverse perspectives towards various wearable products across different platforms. Specifically, "XR"technologies received the most attention, while "Exoskeleton"ignited the most heated debates. Thirdly, we discovered that the lifetime of a hyped wearable technology lasts approximately three years. Furthermore, the news media and entrepreneurship community's attitudes towards wearable technologies did not have a strong impact on public opinion. Finally, among all types of wearable technologies, "fashion design"and "healthcare"products were the most enlightening for the market.
The Aarhus Convention and its implementation in Ireland: strengthening the role of NGOs in environmental governance
(University College Cork, 2015) Comerford, Phyllis; Ryall, Aine; Irish Research Council
One of the most striking features of the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is the leading role envisaged for environmental nongovernmental organisations (ENGOs) in furthering compliance with environmental law. The Convention aims to secure the special status of ENGOs in environmental governance procedures by guaranteeing procedural rights of access to information, participation in decision-making and access to review mechanisms. Although Ireland did not become a Party to the Convention until September 2012, the Aarhus procedural rights were already guaranteed under European Union (EU) law. The EU has been a Party to the Aarhus Convention since May 2005 and has adopted a number of legislative measures to implement the Convention. This thesis examines the evolving role of ENGOs in environmental governance in Ireland. It provides a doctrinal analysis of the impact of the Aarhus Convention and EU law on Irish law and governance arrangements involving ENGOs. The thesis considers the extent to which Ireland has delivered faithfully on the standards set by the Aarhus Convention to facilitate ENGOs to fulfil the role envisaged for them under the Convention.
The Aarhus Convention: Standards for access to justice in environmental matters
(Cambridge University Press, 2019-05) Ryall, Áine
The Aarhus Convention is an international treaty under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE). It guarantees three interconnected procedural rights: the right to information; the right to participate in decision-making; and the right of access to justice in environmental matters. The Convention is ground-breaking in linking environmental rights and human rights. Its overarching objective is to contribute to the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to their health and well-being.2 The Convention aims to strengthen environmental governance by providing opportunities for an informed public to express concerns about activities which may have a significant effect on the environment and insisting that public authorities take account of those concerns. Transparency and accountability in decision-making is advanced by improving public access to environmental information and providing accessible, affordable and effective review mechanisms to ensure that the law is applied correctly and enforced by the courts where necessary. The Convention places special emphasis on the role played by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in environmental protection, in particular by enabling them to enforce the law in the public interest. This chapter examines the development of standards within the context of the rights guaranteed under the Convention and the obligations undertaken by State Parties (i.e. States that have ratified, and are therefore bound by, the Convention as a matter of international law). It focuses on how the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (the Compliance Committee) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have developed these standards over time. Of course, courts and tribunals at national level are also involved intensively in interpreting, applying and enforcing Convention obligations. In order to provide a detailed account, this chapter focuses exclusively on the role of the Compliance Committee and the CJEU in developing standards within the framework of the Convention.
Abortion care in Ireland: Developing legal and ethical frameworks for conscientious provision
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2019-11-02) Donnelly, Mary; Murray, Claire
This article celebrates the remarkable changes which have occurred in the provision of abortion care in Ireland following the vote to remove the restrictive Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland in May 2018. However, it also identifies ways in which the emerging legal, ethical and clinical landscape is still impeding the conscientious provision of abortion care. It argues that in order to address these impediments, more attention needs to be paid to the ethical context for conscientious provision. This requires political leadership as well as ongoing leadership by professional bodies to develop both the clinical and the ethical guidance for conscientious provision.
The absence of integration and the responsibilisation of Union citizenship
(European Papers, 2018-10) Stephen Coutts
Union citizenship has witnessed a reactive turn in recent years with citizens' rights being more easily restricted. Key to this development is a shift in the use of the concept of integration. This article traces this development through two key areas of law, namely access to social benefits and the effect of criminal behaviour on citizens' rights. It further argues that this shift in the use of integration entails a greater emphasis on the agency of the individual and the responsibilisation of the citizen. An image of the “good EU citizen” emerges as productive and law-abiding.
Access to justice for people with disabilities as victims of crime in Ireland
(National Disability Authority, 2012-02) Edwards, Claire; Harold, Gillian; Kilcommins, Shane
International literature recognises that people with disabilities are at greater risk of crime than their able-bodied counterparts, but that crime against people with disabilities is significantly under-reported and often fails to proceed to prosecution. However, little is known in the Irish context about how the criminal justice system responds to the needs of people with disabilities as victims of crime. This study aims to: Explore the barriers that people with disabilities who report a crime face in accessing the criminal justice system in Ireland and internationally; Compare the legislative tools and frameworks across different jurisdictions which seek to protect the rights of people with disabilities who report crime and abuse; Analyse the specific policies and practices that agencies of the criminal justice system have in place to facilitate people with disabilities’ access to justice; Explore national and international innovations which may contribute to strengthening the way in which the Irish criminal justice system responds to the needs of people with disabilities. The study addresses these aims through an international literature review and semi-structured interviews conducted with key agencies in the Irish criminal justice system.
The accountability of transnational armed groups under international law
(University College Cork, 2015) Brennan, Anna Marie; Donson, Fiona; Mullally, Siobhan; Irish Research Council
Terrorist attacks by transnational armed groups cause on average 15,000 deaths every year worldwide, with the law enforcement agencies of some states facing many challenges in bringing those responsible to justice. Despite various attempts to codify the law on transnational terrorism since the 1930s, a crime of transnational terrorism under International Law remains contested, reflecting concerns regarding the relative importance of prosecuting members of transnational armed groups before the International Criminal Court. However, a study of the emerging jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court suggests that terrorist attacks cannot be classified as a war crime or a crime against humanity. Therefore, using organisational network theory, this thesis will probe the limits of international criminal law in bringing members of transnational armed groups to justice in the context of changing methods of warfare. Determining the organisational structure of transnational armed groups, provides a powerful analytical framework for examining the challenges in holding members of transnational armed groups accountable before the International Criminal Court, in the context of the relationship between the commanders and the subordinate members of the group.
Achieving continuous professional development in higher education
(DESRIST 2015, 2015-05) Mandviwalla, Munir; Schuff, David; Ganju, Kartik; Donnellan, Brian; Gleasure, Rob; Helfert, Markus; Kenneally, Jim; Rothenberger, Marcus; Chiarini Tremblay, Monica; VanderMeer, Debra; Winter, Robert
Traditional higher education technology emphasizes knowledge transmission. In contrast, the Community platform presented in this paper follows a social approach that interleaves knowledge delivery with social and professional skills development, engaging with others, and personal growth. In this paper, we apply learning and complex adaptive systems theory to motivate and justify a continuous professional development model that improves higher education outcomes such as placement. The paper follows action design research (ADR) as the research method to propose and evaluate design principles.
Action design research as a method-in-use: problems and opportunities
(Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), 2017) Haj-Bolouri, Amir; Purao, Sandeep; Rossi, Matti; Bernhardsson, Lennarth; Maedche, Alexander; vom Brocke, Jan; Hevner, Alan
This paper reports on the results of a study to investigate how scholars engage with and use the action design research (ADR) approach. ADR has been acknowledged as an important variant of the Design Science Research approach, and has been adopted by a number of scholars, as the methodological basis for doctoral dissertations as well as multidisciplinary research projects. With this use, the research community is learning about how to apply ADR's central tenets in different contexts. In this paper, we draw on primary data from researchers who have recently engaged in or finished an ADR project to identify recurring problems and opportunities related to working in different ADR stages, balancing demands from practice and research, and addressing problem instance vs. class of problems. Our work contributes a greater understanding of how ADR projects are carried out in practice, how researchers use ADR, and pointers to possibilities for extending ADR.
Action design research: a comparison with canonical action research and design science
(DESRIST 2015, 2015-05) Maccani, Giovanni; Donnellan, Brian; Helfert, Markus; Donnellan, Brian; Gleasure, Rob; Helfert, Markus; Kenneally, Jim; Rothenberger, Marcus; Chiarini Tremblay, Monica; VanderMeer, Debra; Winter, Robert
This research in progress paper addresses the IS issue in relation to conducting relevant research while keeping academic rigor. In particular, it contributes to the ongoing academic conversation around the investigation on how to incor-porate action in design science research. In this document the philosophical underpinnings of the recently proposed methodology called Action Design Re-search [1] are derived, outlined and integrated into Burrel and Morgan’s Par-adigmatic Framework (1979)[6]. The results so far show how Action Design Research can be considered as a particular case of Design Science Research (rather than a methodology closely related to Action Research) although they can assume two different epistemological positions. From these philosophical perspectives, future works will involve the inclusion of actual research projects using the three different methodologies. The final goal is to outline and structure the divergences and similarities of Action Design Research with Design Science Research and Canonical Action Research.
Activity patterns in design processes of IT standards
(DESRIST 2015, 2015-05) Purao, Sandeep; Umapathy, Karthikeyan; Bagby, John; Donnellan, Brian; Gleasure, Rob; Helfert, Markus; Kenneally, Jim; Rothenberger, Marcus; Chiarini Tremblay, Monica; VanderMeer, Debra; Winter, Robert
Contemporary IT standards are designed, not selected. Their design enacts a complex process that brings together a coalition of players. We examine the design of the SOAP standard to discover activity patterns in this design process. The paper reports these patterns as a precursor to developing a micro-level process theory for designing IT standards.
AdBo: A mobile application to boost adherence of physical exercises for elderly suffering from cognitive decline
(DESRIST 2016, 2016-05) Alsaqer, Mohammed; Chatterjee, Samir; Parsons, Jeffrey; Tuunanen, Tuure; Venable, John R.; Helfert, Markus; Donnellan, Brian; Kenneally, Jim; National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Claremont Graduate University, United States; Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
According to the UN, the number of elderly people over the age of 60 will reach 2 billion by 2050. Aging is accompanied with functional and cognitive decline that impact elderly independence and quality of life. This often results in issues such as forgetting, fall, and depression. Physical exercises can help. However, only 16% of elderly above the age 65 years do enough exercise to meet HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) physical activity guidelines for Americans. Several barriers impact the elderly's adherence to physical exercises. In this paper, we discuss the barriers and proven strategies that can be used to overcome them. Then, we discuss the development of the AdBo smartphone application, which aims to increase the elderly adherence to physical exercises. The application will guide the elderly though appropriate exercises, measure cognition ability before and after the exercises regimen, and track cognitive improvement over time.
The added value of a mobile application of Community Case Management on referral, re-consultation and hospitalization rates of children aged under 5 years in two districts in Northern Malawi: study protocol for a pragmatic, stepped-wedge cluster-randomized controlled trial
(BioMed Central, 2017-10-11) Hardy, Victoria; O'Connor, Yvonne; Heavin, Ciara; Mastellos, Nikolaos; Tran, Tammy; O'Donoghue, John; Fitzpatrick, Annette L.; Ide, Nicole; Wu, Tsung-Shu Joseph; Chirambo, Griphin Baxter; Muula, Adamson S.; Nyirenda, Moffat; Carlsson, Sven; Andersson, Bo; Thompson, Matthew; Seventh Framework Programme
Addressing marine plastic pollution as a 'wicked' problem of transnational environmental governance
(Lawtext Publishing Limited, 2020-07-21) McIntyre, Owen
Recent scientific research and related media publicity concerning the nature and scale of the problem of marine plastic pollution (‘MPP’) has shone a spotlight on the difficult task of designing and implementing effective legal responses to address this complex environmental challenge. Key among these challenges is that of the ‘fragmentation’ of the diverse environmental law frameworks applying to MPP. The regulatory difficulties associated with the environmental problem of plastic waste and pollution more generally are inextricably linked to the transnational character of globalized supply chains, not alone for plastic products, but for the treatment or disposal of plastic waste and for all internationally traded goods which incorporate or come packaged in plastics of one form or another. In such an uncertain regulatory landscape, beset by legal fragmentation and numerous regulatory lacunae, the rapidly emerging paradigm of global or transnational environmental law (TEL) may offer an innovative means of controlling, informing and guiding the related activities of producers, manufacturers, exporters, importers, distributors, retailers and consumers across global supply chains.
Addressing market segmentation and incentives for risk selection: how well does risk equalisation in the Irish private health insurance market work?
(Economic and Social Studies, 2017-03) Keegan, Conor; Teljeur, Conor; Turner, Brian; Thomas, Steve; Health Research Board
This study assesses the efficacy of Ireland’s recently introduced risk equalisation scheme in its voluntary health insurance market. Robust risk equalisation is especially important in an Irish context given acute risk segmentation and incentives for risk selection that have evolved within the market. Using uniquely acquired VHI data (N=1,235,922) this analysis assesses the predictive efficacy of both current and alternative risk equalisation specifications. Results suggest that the low predictive power of the current risk equalisation design (R2 = 6.8 per cent) is not appropriately correcting for anti-competitive incentives and asymmetries in the market. Improvements to the current design could be achieved through the introduction of diagnosis-based risk adjusters.
Addressing strategy and innovation in family business practice; a process of adaptive change
(University College Cork, 2018) Gleeson, Peter; Doyle, Eleanor
This Portfolio of Exploration documents the transformation in my management practice from an operational to a strategic orientation. The central research question revolves around the impact of a process of adaptive change on my management and a series of business implementation actions. My operational approach had reached its limits with the 2009 construction industry recession exposing the invalidation of the assumptions underlying my management practice. I engage in a process of adaptive change to formulate responses to the changed operating environment both in terms of strategy and innovation. The process is organised into a set of three essays. In Essay One, I engage in a Professional Development Review to trace the development of my meaning making and to surface the theories underlying my management practice. I reflect on how my background in family business and accountancy training has shaped my ‘hegemonic assumptions’ (Brookfield, 1995). I structure the review using the Adult Mental Development theory of Kegan (1994, Kegan & Lahey, 2009). I document my experiences since returning to manage the family business and outline the developmental goals pursued in the remainder of the Portfolio. In Essay Two, I explore the themes underlying my developmental goals by engaging with source thinkers in the Reading for Change Essay. The movement generated in my meaning making enables me to re-define my management practice. I apply an adaptive approach to reading Porter (1980, 1985, 2008) and to analyse my operating environment. Based on this re-reading, I develop a strategy for my business, incorporating advances in strategy since the launch of Porter. I examine the business model assumptions underlying my practice using Brookfield (1995) and Drucker (1994) and explore the role of assumptions in driving business models. I demonstrate the impact of my new management practice in Essay Three, Transforming Practice. Through a series of action research projects, I demonstrate how my practice has been transformed and the effect on the operations of my business. The action projects illustrate the application of previously unused productive managerial resources to business development. In the Portfolio Conclusion, I conclude that adopting a strategic perspective is essentially a higher-order mental demand and requires meaning making operating at that level. This work adds to knowledge in the family business and strategic management areas by demonstrating the impact of an adaptive change process on the effectiveness of management practice. It also reviews the impact of adaptive change on the innovative projects pursued. I set out the implications of this for my selected audience, i.e. practitioners operating in a family business environment and those operating in the SME sector of a commoditised industry with strong competitive forces along with researchers, advisors and policy makers in these areas.
After the reforms: An analysis of the factors associated with the use of legal services in child welfare proceedings in Ireland
(IJMESS International Publishers, 2019) Walsh, Edel; Murphy, Aileen; Halton, Carmel; Harold, Gill; Irish Research Council
Against the backdrop of austerity measures and public sector reforms in Ireland, this paper examined legal costs incurred in child welfare proceedings by the State Child and Family Agency - Tusla, using a need-based allocation model. The direct financial costs of engaging with legal services, necessitated by the adversarial nature of child welfare proceedings, were scrutinized to determine if resources were allocated based on need. Adopting a cross-sectional research design, secondary data (obtained from the organization’s financial billing system. n =1032) were employed in an econometric analysis examining the factors influencing variations in Tusla’s legal expenditure. The dependent variable was total amount billed by legal firm per observation and the independent variables included type of legal activity involved (a proxy for need), geographical location and type of legal personnel (supply factor). Type of legal personnel, volume and type of legal activity have significant positive effects on legal spend. Administrative area does not significantly affect spending on legal services. We found that engagement with legal services, demanded by the adversarial nature of child welfare proceedings, has considerable cost implications; however, does seem to be allocated on the basis of need. The findings can be employed to increase the organization’s awareness of costs.
Agglomeration, urbanization and competitive performance: the natural experiment of English football
(Taylor & Francis, 2019-08-08) Jones, Calvin; Jordan, Declan
There are sound theoretical and empirical bases for expecting productivity and innovative benefits for businesses located in large urban areas, and for those located closer to others in the same or related industries. However, the size and precise origin of these effects remain uncertain and complicated by potential endogeneity from businesses’ location choice. English football is proposed as a natural experiment with immobile businesses and evidence is presented from the English Premier League (EPL) that suggests urban scale affects clubs’ relative performance. It is found that teams in larger conurbations perform relatively better, and it is suggested these benefits probably originate from the sport’s novel labour market.
Alberta consumers' valuation of extrinsic and intrinsic red meat attributes: A choice experimental approach
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2010-06) Steiner, Bodo E.; Gao, Fei; Unterschultz, Jim; Diversified Livestock Fund of Alberta, Canada
This paper analyzes Alberta consumers' perceptions toward extrinsic and intrinsic attributes of bison and beef steaks. In contrast to published Canadian consumer studies on bison meat that were undertaken prior to May 2003, before the first BSE case of Canadian origin was identified in beef cattle, this study provides a post-BSE assessment of consumer perceptions toward selected bison meat attributes. The results from an attribute-based choice experiment provide little support that simple traceability assurance schemes have value to consumers of bison and beef steaks, thus confirming similar findings of earlier beef studies that have employed different methodological approaches. The results also suggest that consumers are willing to pay significant premiums for bison steaks that are certified as being produced without genetically modified organisms, an attribute that has so far been unexplored in previous published bison studies.
Alcohol income and health: a complicated but desirable mix
(University College Cork, 2014) Ormond, Gillian; Murphy, Rosemary
The aim of this thesis is to examine if a difference exists in income for different categories of drinkers in Ireland using the 2007 Slán data set. The possible impact of alcohol consumption on health status and health care utilisation is also examined. Potential endogeneity and selection bias is accounted for throughout. Endogeneity is where an independent variable included in the model is determined within the context of the model (Chenhall and Moers, 2007). An endogenous relationship between income and alcohol and between health and alcohol is accounted for by the use of separate income equations and separate health status equations for each category of drinker similar to what was done in previous studies into the effects of alcohol on earnings (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997; Barrett, 2002). Sample selection bias arises when a sector selection is non-random due to individuals choosing a particular sector because of their personal characteristics (Heckman, 1979; Zhang, 2004). In relation to alcohol consumption, selection bias may arise as people may select into a particular drinker group due to the fact that they know that by doing so it will not have a negative effect on their income or health (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997; Di Pietro and Pedace, 2008; Barrett, 2002). Selection bias of alcohol consumption is accounted for by using the Multinomial Logit OLS Two Step Estimate as proposed by Lee (1982), which is an extension of the Heckman Probit OLS Two Step Estimate. Alcohol status as an ordered variable is examined and possible methods of estimation accounting for this ordinality while also accounting for selection bias are looked at. Limited Information Methods and Full Information Methods of estimation of simultaneous equations are assessed and compared. Findings show that in Ireland moderate drinkers have a higher income compared with abstainers or heavy drinkers. Some studies such as Barrett (2002) argue that this is as a consequence of alcohol improving ones health, which in turn can influence ones productivity which may ultimately be reflected in earnings, due to the fact that previous studies have found that moderate levels of alcohol consumption are beneficial towards ones health status. This study goes on to examine the relationship between health status and alcohol consumption and whether the correlation between income and the consumption of alcohol is similar in terms of sign and magnitude to the correlation between health status and the consumption of alcohol. Results indicate that moderate drinkers have a higher income than non or heavy drinkers, with the weekly household income of moderate drinkers being €660.10, non drinkers being €546.75 and heavy drinkers being €449.99. Moderate Drinkers also report having a better health status than non drinkers and a slightly better health status than heavy drinkers. More non-drinkers report poor health than either moderate or heavy drinkers. As part of the analysis into the effect of alcohol consumption on income and on health status, the relationship between other socio economic variables such as gender, age, education among others, with income, health and alcohol status is examined.

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