Posted by Elena del Valle on September 25, 2015
On Romantic Love
Photo: Oxford University Press
Love is an emotion and as such may be rational or irrational. It may be experienced in degrees; it may be conscious and unconscious; and it may be controlled so that we may fall in and out of love. So says Berit Brogaard, professor of Philosophy, University of Miami.
In On Romantic Love Simple Truths About A Complex Emotion (Oxford University Press, $21.95) a hardcover 270-page book published this year, Brogaard attempts to get to the bottom of love’s many contradictions. The book includes black and white photos and original line drawings by illustrator Gareth Southwell.
Why does it matter? She explains that love, unlike marriage, seems to lead to happiness. The reference to love is not only about romantic love. Other forms of love such as friendship, parental, sibling, and companion also are linked to feeling blissful.
George E. Vaillant, a researcher she quotes in the book, says: “Happiness is love, Full stop.” He concluded after years of study on the subject that the ability to be intimate with another person was a strong predictor of health and happiness. The author believes that is too strong a statement. In its place she suggests instead that rational love leads to happiness.
Brogaard’s previous book, Transient Truths, was published in 2012. In her academic research she specializes in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and the cognitive sciences.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 24, 2015
The Department of Communication at Boise State University invites applicants for the position of Department Head with rank of Associate Professor or Professor to support its complex mission of providing quality educational opportunities across a range of offerings in communication and media in a growing and diverse department. The successful- Click to read the entire Department Head Department of Communication Search #AS-0043-15
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 18, 2015
Customer-Centric Marketing
Photos: Wiley, Aldo Cundari
Marketer Aldo Cundari believes the lessons he learned while studying art in and exploring Italy during his formative years have served him well in his 30-year business life. In Customer-Centric Marketing Build Relationships, Create Advocates and Influence Your Customers (Wiley, $25), a 154-page hardcover book published this year, he shares some of the lessons he has learned through trial and error in his career. A main one of those is that marketing should always focus on the customer.
He strives to define the path customers follow and offer insights on customer experience, innovation, content, social media, and operating strategies to guide readers in formulating a marketing plan. He seeks to inform readers on ways to identify and influence new consumers, position their company within the marketplace, find and connect with individuals friendly to the brand and with the potential to spread its message. The book is peppered with graphs, illustrations and screen captures.
“There has been a great deal of change in the marketing world over the last 10 to 15 years,” Cundari said by email when asked why he wrote the book. “The tools and tactics that worked for the last 60 years are no longer effective. It was the information age that led to the onset of social technology that created freedom of choice and the empowered customer. This empowered customer holds all the power in how they will interact with a brand. So finding a new way to communicate to customer was essential. At the same time, new technology has complicated the decision on what is effective and works and what does not. My goal for the book was to put context to where we are and how to better understand the forces affecting marketing.”
Aldo Cundari, author, Customer-Centric Marketing
Regarding why companies engage in non customer centric marketing he said, “The current marketplace and how you reach customers has become more and more complicated, and without understanding of the forces affecting the challenges, I believe that marketers just default to using the tools and tactics that worked for them in the past, all with ever diminishing returns.”
Cundari explained that finding the data and cases studies that consistently demonstrate that the Customer-Centric Marketing approach works was the biggest challenge in writing the book.
“What I found was when you look deep enough you realize that there are many examples emerging,” he said. “All I applied is the logic and understanding behind the forces, affecting success. What most surprised me was when you remove all the shinny new technology things that supposedly help marketers entice customer and you peel back all the new terminology that has layered confusion over understanding, you end up in the same place we have always been, ‘human nature is, what it is’, you have a person with a need, so why not fill that need.”
Cundari is chairman and chief executive officer of Cundari Group. His firm specializes in integrated marketing, branding and design, and interactive and software development services powered by research insights.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 2, 2015
Ronald A. Lacayo, executive director, UTH Florida University
Photo: UTH Florida University
Targeting Spanish dominant immigrants from Central and South America looking to improve their economic prospects by completing their education with a college degree or obtain a second degree online in Spanish the Universidad Tecnologica de Honduras (UTH) is branching out. In August 2015, the owners of the Central American university and the Honduran-USA Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of UTH Florida University online.
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, UTH Florida University, a for profit entity, announced student registration in August 2015 and the beginning of classes September 1, 2015 at uthflorida.us. According to a press release distributed by UTH Florida University, the educational company is licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education. The Commission website indicates its functions include the licensure of independent schools, colleges and universities. All classes will be in Spanish and based on the Harvard Business School case method.
“We believe that on-line education is the disruptive innovation of the 21st century that will break the higher education paradigm and finally bring affordable and high quality education to everyone and everywhere thus allowing our communities and countries to grow and prosper,” said Ronald A. Lacayo, executive director, UTH Florida University.
Administrators plan to offer 16 classes in the Fall 2015 semester and 32 for Spring 2016 with the support of 10 staff. They expect the offerings to increase each semester.
“We expect 250 students enrolled by the end of 2016 and 500 by 2018,” said Lacayo by email. “Currently all of 80 faculty members are adjunct. Our staffing strategy is to seek maximum operating efficiency in order to pass along the savings to our students is the form of low and affordable tuition.”
The new company hopes to set itself apart from other distance educational institutions by offering students affordable undergraduate degrees for $9,600 in Business, Marketing and Human Resource Management. Graduate degrees in Management and International Business Administration, Business and Finance, and Business and Marketing will cost $5,880. According to the press release, the Universidad Tecnologica de Honduras which was founded in 1986 and has over 15,000 students.
