The town of bent necks: interorganizational causes and consequences of relational rivalry

PurposeThis study aims at developing a conceptual framework for the networking behaviour of firms having relational and non-relational competitive interactions. Initially the question of how negative ties change the meaning of competition for the rival firms was discussed and then how these types of interactions can change possible networking preferences of organizations were theoretically estimated.Design/methodology/approachThis study suggests that relational rivalry is closely linked with negative ties and even the emergence of strong positive ties among firms is viewed as a consequence of dyadic negative interactions. Different types of competitive conditions were classified under non-relational and relational categories.FindingsNot applicable.Originality/valueA majority of the studies on interorganizational networks are mostly concerned with positive tie formation patterns and the consequences of these interactions. However, there is limited number of macro-level studies, which realized explanatory potential of the negative interfirm relations. Negative interorganizational relations may also make significant contributions to the discipline of economic sociology.

Znak językowy i dychotomia significans : significatum a morfosemantem i funkcja morfosemantyczna

Artykuł dotyczy teorii znaku językowego, w tym rozróżnienia elementów: znaczący (significans) i znaczony (significatum). Rozważania skupione są na dwóch przeciwstawnych teoriach: jednej ‒ bilateralnej i psychologistycznej (mentalistycznej), pochodzącej od Ferdinanda de Saussure’a (CLG) i drugiej ‒ unilateralnej i obiektywistycznej autorstwa Leona Zawadowskiego (LTJ). Autor artykułu teorie te porównuje i ocenia, zestawiając je z przedstawianą już w swoich wcześniejszych pracach (m.in. Sroka 2016a i 2016b) własną koncepcją morfosemantemu i funkcji morfosemantycznej. Znak (fr. signe) w ujęciu de Saussure’a składa się z wyobrażenia akustycznego (fr. image acoustique) jako elementu znaczącego (fr. signifiant) i pojęcia (fr. concept) jako elementu znaczonego (fr. signifié), podczas gdy w ujęciu Zawadowskiego obejmuje on tylko będący na płaszczyźnie elementu znaczącego element tekstu (jako zjawisko fizyczne) w jego cechach inherentnych, a poza znakiem pozostaje element rzeczywistości pozatekstowej jako element znaczony. Pojęcie morfosemantemu jest uogólnieniem, modyfikacją i rozwinięciem pojęć znaku językowego wypracowanych przez de Saussure’a i Zawadowskiego. Morfosemantem jest elementem tekstu, definiowanym według trzech kategorii, do których należą: forma (F) (segment tekstu w jego cechach inherentnych), sygnifikacja czynna (S) (fakt, że segment tekstu reprezentuje wybrany element rzeczywistości pozasegmentalnej) i lokacja (L) (występowanie segmentu tekstu w danym otoczeniu). Funkcja morfosemantyczna (o kierunkach: sygnifikacja/lokacja => forma; forma/lokacja => sygnifikacja; forma/sygnifikacja => lokacja) jest rozpięta nad strukturalnie homogenicznym zbiorem morfosemantemów. Zaproponowane pojęcie morfosemantemu jako odpowiednika znaku językowego nie jest ani w pełni bilateralne, gdyż element znaczony (reprezentowany element rzeczywistości pozasegmentalnej (RR)) nie jest częścią morfosemantemu, ani też w pełni unilateralne, ponieważ obok formy (F), tj. kategorii, której wartościami są zespoły cech inherentnych segmentu tekstu, do istoty morfosemantemu należą również kategorie relacyjne: sygnifikacja czynna (S) oraz lokacja (L). Przedstawiona koncepcja morfosemantemu i funkcji morfosemantycznej jest obiektywistyczna, lecz obok niej można też stworzyć interpretację psychologistyczną (mentalistyczną), zakładając, że przedmiot poznania ma swoje odbicie (reprezentację) w umyśle poznającego podmiotu. Language sign and the dichotomy significans : significatum in relation to morphosemanteme and the morphosemantic function. Summary: The paper deals with the theory of language sign and with the distinction between the elements: signifying/signifier (significans) and signified (significatum). The discussion focuses on two opposite theories: one – bilateral and psychologistic (mentalistic) ‒ coming from Ferdinand de Saussure (CLG) and the other ‒ unilateral and objectivistic ‒ authored by Leon Zawadowski (LTJ). The present author compares and evaluates these theories, juxtaposing them with his own conception of morphosemanteme and the morphosemantic function, proposed in his earlier studies (e.g. Sroka 2016a and 2016b). According to de Saussure, a linguistic sign (Fr. signe) consists of the acoustic image (Fr. image acoustique) as the signifying element (Fr. signifiant) and of the concept (Fr. concept) as the signified element (Fr. signifié). According to Zawadowski, the sign includes only the textual element (as a physical phenomenon) in its inherent features, which belongs to the plane of the signifying element, and outside of the sign there is the element of the extratextual reality as the signified element. The concept of the morphosemanteme is a generalization, modification and development of de Saussure’s and Zawadowski’s concepts of the language sign. The morphosemanteme is an element of text defined according to three categories, namely: form (F) (textual segment in its inherent features), active signification (S) (the fact that a textual segment represents a given element of the extrasegmental reality), and location (L) (occurrence of a textual segment in a given environment). The morphosemantic function (of the directions: signification/location => form; form/location => signification; and form/signification => location) expands over a structurally homogeneous set of morphosemantemes. The proposed concept of the morphosemanteme as a counterpart of the language sign is neither fully bilateral, since the signified element (represented element of the extrasegmental reality (RR)) is not part of the morphosemanteme, nor fully unilateral, since in its essence the morphosemanteme includes not only form (F), i.e. the category whose values are sets of the inherent features of the textual segment, but also relational categories: active signification (S) and location (L). The conception of the morphosemanteme and morphosemantic function described here is objectivistic but it is also possible to create its psychologistic (mentalistic) interpretation, assuming that the object of cognition has its reflection (representation) in the mind of the conceiving subject. Keywords: F. de Saussure, Leon Zawadowski, element of text, language sign, signifying element (significans), signified element (significatum), morphosemanteme, form, signification, location, morphosemantic function

Conclusion

The author considers in the conclusion to this book the relationship between the Transcendental Deduction and the System of Principles—especially the Analogies of Experience—in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. The final question raised by the book and addressed in the conclusion is what are the laws of nature treated in §26 of the B-Deduction as essential to any cosmology of experience. Kant says in §26 that these laws are laid down by the categories. But the conclusion of this book argues that not all categories are legislators: only the relational categories are.Hence the cosmology of experience announced in §26 is completed by the Analogies of Experience. The author then considers the question raised by this result: what claim do the non-relational categories have to be covered by the Transcendental Deduction? The answer depends on the assistance they give to the relational categories in mounting a cosmology of experience.

Transformation of Event Representations along Middle Temporal Gyrus

When learning about events through visual experience, one must not only identify which events are visually similar but also retrieve those events’ associates—which may be visually dissimilar—and recognize when different events have similar predictive relations. How are these demands balanced? To address this question, we taught participants the predictive structures among four events, which appeared in four different sequences, each cued by a distinct object. In each, one event (“cause”) was predictably followed by another (“effect”). Sequences in the same relational category had similar predictive structure, while across categories, the effect and cause events were reversed. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging data, we measured “associative coding,” indicated by correlated responses between effect and cause events; “perceptual coding,” indicated by correlated responses to visually similar events; and “relational category coding,” indicated by correlated responses to sequences in the same relational category. All three models characterized responses within the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), but in different ways: Perceptual and associative coding diverged along the posterior to anterior axis, while relational categories emerged anteriorly in tandem with associative coding. Thus, along the posterior–anterior axis of MTG, the representation of the visual attributes of events is transformed to a representation of both specific and generalizable relational attributes.

Moving Beyond System 1 and System 2

It is generally assumed that relational knowledge is the foundation of higher cognition such as (analogical and conditional) reasoning, language, the use of relational categories, and planning. Dual-system models (e.g., Kahneman, 2011 ) that divide the realm of cognition into two systems with opposing properties (e.g., fast vs. slow, intentional vs. unintentional, conscious vs. unconscious, associative vs. propositional) foster the view that other psychological phenomena are not relational in nature. In this paper, I argue that the impact of relational knowledge is more widespread than dual-system models imply. More specifically, I review evidence suggesting that also Pavlovian conditioning, implicit evaluation, and habitual responding are mediated by relational knowledge. Considering the idea that relational knowledge underlies also fast, unintentional, unconscious, and seemingly associative psychological phenomena is not only theoretically important but also reveals new opportunities for influencing thinking and behavior.

Eusebius’ Canon Tables as a Paratext for Ordering Textual Knowledge

This chapter situates the Eusebian apparatus against the backdrop of the theory and history of paratexts and the theory and history of information visualization. It argues that Eusebius’ Canon Tables were a highly original paratext and a remarkably sophisticated instance of information visualization when compared to what preceded them. The closest formal analogue to the Canon Tables is shown to be the astronomical tables composed by Ptolemy in the second century. When seen in relation to the fourfold gospel, the Canon Tables are a paratext that orders the textual material of the gospels by organizing it into relational categories and providing the user with a navigational system when reading the corpus.