Learn how to use Application Service Providers to enhance the future of your business! Application Service Providers in Business is a comprehensive analysis of the present ASP model and its place in business today. Business success in today's information-intensive marketplace depends on a company's ability to acquire and fully use the latest advancements in business-critical applications. By having these applications delivered as services over the Internet, businesses can lessen the demands on company IT staff, and increase the ability to get complex software into use immediately. Within this context, a new outsourcing business model called ASP (Application Service Provider) has emerged that is transforming how businesses access and leverage software applications. The book explains the specific contingent ASP models, including business, enterprise, functional-focused, and vertical market ASPs, and ASP aggregators. It demonstrates how different ASP models have fulfilled diverse market/customer expectations and explores future scenarios for current ASP business models. Case studies, tables, and figures illustrate important concepts and make complex information easy to access and understand. Based on a thorough analysis of the ASP market environment, the book provides detailed Best Practices Guidelines that managers of ASPs can use to improve the chances of success of their respective ASPs. It outlines contingency factors such as application offerings, customer selection, operations, and strategic fit. The book also not only assists business managers in deciding on whether to use an ASP, but it presents ways to use ASPs to effectively support their business process. The ability to provide the workforce with access to data whenever and wherever is crucial for positively impacting a company's profitability, and ASPs provide the software to make it possible. Topics included in Application Service Providers in Business are: Best Practices Guidelines strategic management management decision making and planning IT management and outsourcing future of the ASP market ASP business models and much more! Application Service Providers in Business is a comprehensive resource for executives, managers, professors, and business students in the US and worldwide. Using the information and guidelines provided, executives and managers can learn how to use ASPs to enhance their business, and managers of ASPs can learn how to increase their chance of success in the competitive ASP market. The material is also appropriate as a textbook for management and computer information/software development classes.

It has been argued that too much research is conducted for the 'world' of education research, and not enough for the 'village' of particular educational institutions like schools. In this edited book, the authors reflect on what it means for teachers to be engaged in and with educational research. What is happening in the ‘village’ of schools, and how is that related to what is happening in the ‘world’ of educational research? What might the distinction between the ‘village’ and the ‘world’ mean today, and is it still a useful one? The chapters in this book explore the prospects of teacher research in an age in which educational data proliferates, often used for accountability and surveillance purposes, and in which instrumentalist notions of 'evidence-based practice' dominate. They consider contexts ranging from Initial Teacher Education through to ongoing teacher professional learning in schools. This volume concludes with an argument for turning the conversation from research as an 'add-on' to something that can be, should be, and arguably is, a central feature of the everyday work of teaching. It aims to envision positive futures for the kinds of 'villages' and 'worlds' that may be possible when enabling meaningful and rich research with, for and by teachers. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Teaching Education.

Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education challenges the language used in education by linking the language of both the public and professional domains with the changing intentions of the governance of education. Exploring various issues, which embody the many manifestations of the manner in which strident, conservative language has captured the public view of education, the book covers topics such as the importance of language in the context of educational practice, the media's portrayal of teachers globally, the role of students in the face of curriculum reform and the language used in educational policy worldwide. The book addresses the ways in which the words 'improvement' and 'reform' have been appropriated and hollowed-out by policymakers in order to justify globalised education policies. Using international case studies and reports, the authors argue that the employment of specific words masks the reality that new educational policies are regressive and require re-examination, while perpetuating the illusion that progressive educational practice is being brought to the fore. Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education is a fascinating and original take on this topic, which will be of great interest to educational practitioners, policymakers and linguists.

Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships addresses the complex dilemmas and issues that arise in practitioner inquiry. It recognises that facilitating practitioner research is far more than providing advice about method adoption, important as that contribution is; or even modelling research practices and drawing attention to appropriate resources and theories. It also requires the evolution of strong reciprocal partnerships that will contribute to professional knowledge formation in both the academy and the field.

When such engagement is undertaken then matters associated with authentic praxis development for field based and academic practitioners emerge. The authors explore:

• how praxis, as practice that can always be judged in terms of what is and what ought to be, can be analysed in terms of functional and substantive rationality as well as life, world and system issues.
• how a transformative partnership requires particular professional attitudes of practitioners and academic
• the underlying potential of practitioner inquiry where agency is afforded as a democratic principle to all who participate, including the consequential stakeholders; the students in our schools and universities.

It draws upon extensive case studies from The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia which not only illustrate and illuminate, but also highlight contradictions and tensions. The case studies exhibit issues related to the quality of the partnerships between the academy and the field and the ways in which quality impacts upon practice. Additionally, the varying social geographies allow a discussion of different intellectual traditions, belief systems, problem settings, questions, and discourses.

Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships will appeal internationally to academics involved with practitioner research. It will also prove useful to practitioners across the education sectors, including researchers, teachers and those involved in education policy.

Learn how to use Application Service Providers to enhance the future of your business! Application Service Providers in Business is a comprehensive analysis of the present ASP model and its place in business today. Business success in today's information-intensive marketplace depends on a company's ability to acquire and fully use the latest advancements in business-critical applications. By having these applications delivered as services over the Internet, businesses can lessen the demands on company IT staff, and increase the ability to get complex software into use immediately. Within this context, a new outsourcing business model called ASP (Application Service Provider) has emerged that is transforming how businesses access and leverage software applications. The book explains the specific contingent ASP models, including business, enterprise, functional-focused, and vertical market ASPs, and ASP aggregators. It demonstrates how different ASP models have fulfilled diverse market/customer expectations and explores future scenarios for current ASP business models. Case studies, tables, and figures illustrate important concepts and make complex information easy to access and understand. Based on a thorough analysis of the ASP market environment, the book provides detailed Best Practices Guidelines that managers of ASPs can use to improve the chances of success of their respective ASPs. It outlines contingency factors such as application offerings, customer selection, operations, and strategic fit. The book also not only assists business managers in deciding on whether to use an ASP, but it presents ways to use ASPs to effectively support their business process. The ability to provide the workforce with access to data whenever and wherever is crucial for positively impacting a company's profitability, and ASPs provide the software to make it possible. Topics included in Application Service Providers in Business are: Best Practices Guidelines strategic management management decision making and planning IT management and outsourcing future of the ASP market ASP business models and much more! Application Service Providers in Business is a comprehensive resource for executives, managers, professors, and business students in the US and worldwide. Using the information and guidelines provided, executives and managers can learn how to use ASPs to enhance their business, and managers of ASPs can learn how to increase their chance of success in the competitive ASP market. The material is also appropriate as a textbook for management and computer information/software development classes.

Build the skills needed to compete in the highly competitive global business environment This incisive book is a comprehensive introduction to contemporary multinational strategic leadership and management. A vital guide to business policy, Multinational Strategic Management: An Integrative Entrepreneurial Context-Specific Process combines basic strategic management with a distinctive international business perspective. The result is invaluable as a preparatory overview for novices and as a guidebook for business practitioners. Mixing basic management and leadership perspectives with a study of international business, Multinational Strategic Management takes a comprehensive approach to subjects that traditionally require multiple texts. Designed for use as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate course work, the book fills an educational void in a rapidly growing field. The in-depth text provides you with a thorough understanding of how to lead and manage enterprises that operate within and across national borders. Multinational Strategic Management helps professionals, students, and educators: acquire and enhance skills in entrepreneurial contingency thinking and action integrate those skills to creatively handle specific situations learn more about management processes (and possibly develop new ones) Ideal for use in support of executive training workshops and as a text in advanced university business programs, Multinational Strategic Management introduces you to all levels of integrative decision-making from the entrepreneurial perspective of the leading multinational firms like General Electric and Intel. Perfect for educational use, the book provides more than the standard textbook descriptions and case studies. It will inspire the kind of creative entrepreneurial thought and action needed to compete in today's highly competitive global environment.

Bringing together ten leading researchers in the field of deliberative democracy, this important book examines the features of a Deliberative Mini-Public (DMP) and considers how DMPs link into democratic systems. It examines the core design features of DMPs and their role in the broader policy process and takes stock of the characteristics that distinguish them from other forms of citizen participation. In doing so, the book offers valuable insights into the contributions that DMPs can make not only to the policy process, but also to the broader agenda of revitalising democracy in contemporary times.

Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships addresses the complex dilemmas and issues that arise in practitioner inquiry. It recognises that facilitating practitioner research is far more than providing advice about method adoption, important as that contribution is; or even modelling research practices and drawing attention to appropriate resources and theories. It also requires the evolution of strong reciprocal partnerships that will contribute to professional knowledge formation in both the academy and the field. When such engagement is undertaken then matters associated with authentic 'praxis development' for field based and academic practitioners emerge. The authors explore: how praxis, as practice that can always be judged in terms of 'what is' and 'what ought to be', can be analysed in terms of functional and substantive rationality as well as life, world and system issues. how a transformative partnership requires particular professional attitudes of practitioners and academic the underlying potential of practitioner inquiry where agency is afforded as a democratic principle to all who participate, including the consequential stakeholders; the students in our schools and universities. It draws upon extensive case studies from The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia which not only illustrate and illuminate, but also highlight contradictions and tensions. The case studies exhibit issues related to the quality of the partnerships between the academy and the field and the ways in which quality impacts upon practice. Additionally, the varying social geographies allow a discussion of different intellectual traditions, belief systems, problem settings, questions, and discourses. Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships will appeal internationally to academics involved with practitioner research. It will also prove useful to practitioners across the education sectors, including researchers, teachers and those involved in education policy.

Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education challenges the language used in education by linking the language of both the public and professional domains with the changing intentions of the governance of education. Exploring various issues, which embody the many manifestations of the manner in which strident, conservative language has captured the public view of education, the book covers topics such as the importance of language in the context of educational practice, the media's portrayal of teachers globally, the role of students in the face of curriculum reform and the language used in educational policy worldwide. The book addresses the ways in which the words 'improvement' and 'reform' have been appropriated and hollowed-out by policymakers in order to justify globalised education policies. Using international case studies and reports, the authors argue that the employment of specific words masks the reality that new educational policies are regressive and require re-examination, while perpetuating the illusion that progressive educational practice is being brought to the fore. Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education is a fascinating and original take on this topic, which will be of great interest to educational practitioners, policymakers and linguists.

This novel tells the absorbing story of the three Tumarkin siblings: reckless Shoe, reclusive Ida, and Johnny, their beautiful, ambivalent younger brother. When Shoe is murdered, her family gathers for her funeral and discovers a will with her final wishes a wife for Johnny and a son for Ida. Johnny refuses to marry a woman upon demand even if he happens to love her. Ida, however, embraces love. She adores her nephew, Moses, and falls for Max, the tall stranger who walks into their lives. Soon, Ida must choose between the dreams that have always offered her shelter and the bold suitor who threatens to dismantle them. And all the Tumarkins, still shaken from losing one family member, must face the threat of losing another. By turns enchanting and unsettling, poignant and wise, this novel marks the debut of a remarkably astute chronicler of the human heart.

A warning, a movement, a collection borne of protest. In Watch Your Head, poems, stories, essays, and artwork sound the alarm on the present and future consequences of the climate emergency. Ice caps are melting, wildfires are raging, and species extinction is accelerating. Dire predictions about the climate emergency from scientists, Indigenous land and water defenders, and striking school children have mostly been ignored by the very institutions - government, education, industry, and media - with the power to do something about it. Writers and artists confront colonization, racism, and the social inequalities that are endemic to the climate crisis. Here the imagination amplifies and humanizes the science. These works are impassioned, desperate, hopeful, healing, transformative, and radical. This is a call to climate-justice action. Edited by Madhur Anand, Stephen Collis, Jennifer Dorner, Catherine Graham, Elena Johnson, Canisia Lubrin, Kim Mannix, Kathryn Mockler, June Pak, Sina Queyras, Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Rasiqra Revulva, Yusuf Saadi, Sanchari Sur, and Jacqueline Valencia Proceeds will be donated to RAVEN and Climate Justice Toronto.

With dreamlike stories and dark humour, Anecdotes is a hybrid collection in four parts examining the pressing realities of sexual violence, abuse, and environmental collapse. Absurdist flash fictions in "The Boy is Dead" depict characters such as a park that hates hippies, squirrels, and unhappy parents; a woman lamenting a stolen laptop the day the world ends; and birds slamming into glass buildings. "This Isn't a Conversation" shares one-liners from overheard conversations, found texts, diary entries and random thoughts: many are responses to the absurdity and pain of the current political and environmental climate. "We're Not Here to Talk About Aliens" gathers autofictions that follow a young protagonist from childhood to early 20s, through the murky undercurrent of potential violence amidst sexual awakening; from first periods to flashers; sticker books to maxi pad art; acid trips to blackouts; creepy professors to close calls. In "The Dream House," The Past and The Future are personified as various incarnations in relationships to one another (lovers, a parent and child, siblings, friends), all engaged in ongoing conflict. These varied, immersive works bristle with truth in the face of unprecedented change. They are playful forms for serious times.

When Donald Rumsfeld briefed his press secretary on how to deal with the media, he said: 'Begin with an illogical premise and proceed perfectly logically to an illogical conclusion...They the media] do it all the time.' Kathryn Mockler's new collection of poems applies Rumsfeld's advice to powerful poetic ends. Deeply interested in American politics and the absurdity of our mediated relation to the political sphere, the beautiful and entertaining narrative poems in The Saddest Place on Earth follow absurd premises to their most logical conclusions. Here, God appears on Oprah, Hurt Feelings and Anger rent a cottage together on Lake Huron for a week in August, and the saddest place on earth is discovered in a Chinese restaurant at the end of a stripmall. Kathryn Mockler's approach to language and the world results in an extremely engaging, moving and often hilarious poetics of deep disorientation.

This book is grounded in the idea that words matter. It holds that how we discuss teachers and teaching in the public space shapes the way we come to regard teachers as a society; the beliefs we hold about who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Over time it also comes to shape the conditions and contexts in which teachers do their work. This matters because schooling provides one of the very few common experiences that most of us share. Teaching, in particular, provides a convenient rallying point for discussions of public policy, and beyond citizens’ own school experiences, the print media makes the most significant contribution to broad social understandings of schooling and teachers’ work. This book provides a comprehensive and systematic exploration of print media discourses around teachers and their work, using over 65,000 articles published in Australian print media from 1996 to 2020 as a case study. It also takes a comparative look, drawing on print media texts from other countries, namely the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. It employs an innovative combination of large-scale corpus-assisted analysis and close qualitative analysis to identify and explore representations of teachers in the print media, how they are constructed and how these constructions have changed and shifted over the past twenty five years.

A gloriously funny and anarchic series full of wizards, queens and more than a little mud

Perfect for fans of Andy Stanton, Danny Wallace and Roald Dahl

Beatrix the Bold is a queen. A very bold queen. And she's also only ten years old. But that's never stopped her from doing anything before, and it's not going to stop her now. She's on the run from the Evil Army AND her evil aunt Esmerelda, but she's getting closer to finding her long-lost parents, whom she hasn't seen since she was a baby. She just has to cross the Sea of Sinking Ships and the Volcanos of Doom to get to them - easy, right? But when you're Beatrix the Bold and you've got Oi the boy, Dog the dog and Wilfred the Wise by your side, you can do anything . . .

A gloriously funny and anarchic series full of wizards, queens and more than a little mud

Perfect for fans of Andy Stanton, Danny Wallace and Roald Dahl

Beatrix the Bold is a queen. A very bold queen. And she's also only ten years old. But that's never stopped her from doing anything before, and it's not going to stop her now. She's already averted her own kidnapping and fought off an Evil Army. Now she needs to find her long-lost parents, and fend off her villainous aunt Esmerelda. She just has to cross a vast kingdom to get there and save a bunch of children from deadly peril while confronting a terrifying dragon ... Easy, right? But when you're Beatrix the Bold and you've got Oi the Boy, Dog the Dog and Wilfred the Wise by your side, you can do anything . . .

'What a rollicking olden-days adventure this is, replete with mystery, secret passages, menacingly elusive enemies and a main character readers will truly root for' JOANNE OWEN, author of MARTHA MAYHEM (praise for Beatrix the Bold and the Curse of the Wobblers)

'What a rollicking olden-days adventure this is, replete with mystery, secret passages, menacingly elusive enemies and a main character readers will truly root for' JOANNE OWEN, author of MARTHA MAYHEM

Ten-year-old Beatrix is very good at telling jokes, dancing and throwing knives. She also happens to be a queen of a distant land - though she doesn't know that yet. She also happens to be the queen who is quite possibly destined to lead the Wobblers to bold victory over the Evil Army - though she doesn't know that yet either. Beatrix lives in an enormous golden palace with Aunt Esmerelda the Terrible and Uncle Ivan the Vicious, but as she's only been allowed to see one new room per birthday, she's only ever been inside ten rooms of the palace. Her aunt and uncle have always told her that if she goes beyond the woods outside the palace she'll fall off the edge of the world. And the Dark, Dark Woods and all that lies beyond must be avoided at all costs - what if the dreaded Wobblers were to get her? But finally, the veil Beatrix has been living under is starting to slip. Beatrix knows she needs to be bold. Beatrix knows she needs to look for answers. And she's about to get them.