bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Public Management and the Thatcher Healthcare Legacy: Enough of the Theory, What about the Implementation?
Authors: Cairney Paul
Published: March 2003

Initial evaluations of Thatcherism suggest that it represented a policy formulation success but implementation failure (Marsh and Rhodes 1992), with healthcare reforms particularly unsuccessful because they did not challenge the autonomy of the medical profession (Wistow 1992a and 1992b). More extensive analyses of the implementation of new public management (NPM) within health care take this challenge more seriously. According to Ferlie et al. (1996), doctors were gainers and losers, since the rise of the management function coincided with a rise in medical involvement in management decisions. However, this article argues that the rise of the purchasing function of health authorities undermined this ‘gain’ to the medical profession. Further, the significance of the case study—AIDS policy in Scotland—is that profound change has occurred in a policy area in which one would least expect this to happen.
Trajectories of Solidarity: Changing Union-Party Linkages in the UK and the USA
Authors: Ludlam Steve , Bodah Matthew , Coates David
Published: March 2003

This article analyses the linkage between trade unions and the US Democratic Party and the UK Labour Party in the twentieth century. A typology suited to longitudinal analysis of labour movement union-party linkages is proposed to help characterise and explain historical development of these two national movements through earlier types of linkage, into ‘New Labour’ and ‘New Democratic’ forms. The paper suggests that, from similar starting points, differences through time in the range of types of linkage in the two movements can be explained by a combination of factors of political economy and electoral strategy, a combination that today points towards weaker relationships.
International Migration, remittances and income distribution in the source country: a synthesis
Authors: Quibria M. G.
Published: March 2003

The paper explores, under a wide variety of circumstances, the welfare impact of emigration. The analytical framework posited is a simple two‐factor, two‐commodity, two‐class general equilibrium model that makes a distinction between traded and non‐traded goods. The principal aim is to collect and synthesize the well‐known results in the literature, derived from diverse analytical frameworks, as well as to establish a number of new ones. It is shown that pure emigration can be beneficial to the non‐emigrants in the source country, irrespective of the welfare criteria adopted, if accompanied by sufficient remittances. The paper also highlights the fact that emigation does not affect all classes in society symmetrically. The division of losers and gainers depends on the volume of remittances, the distribution of factor endowments and the type of emigration.
Export Flexibility and Hedging
Authors: Broll Udo , Wahl Jack E.
Published: March 2003

The paper considers a risk‐averse international firm which sells its output in either the domestic or the foreign market. The firm possesses export flexibility, and so it can choose between the domestic and export markets after considering the foreign exchange rate. It is shown that a separation property holds if the proper hedging instrument is used: the firm's production depends on market prices and technology and does not depend on its attitude towards risk nor on its expectations. A full‐hedge proposition is derived.
Optimal Complementary Auctions*
Authors: Cripps Martin , Ireland Norman
Published: March 2003

This paper considers the situation where two products are sold by the same seller, but to disjoint sets of potential buyers. Externalities may arise from each market outcome to the other. The paper examines the nature of the seller’s optimal mechanism, and, for example in the case of positive externalities, it is shown that the allocation decision in either market depends on the highest types in both markets. The optimal mechanism can be implemented by an indirect mechanism that essentially charges winning bidders for the value of their externalities. The analysis is applied to the sale of public sector franchises including exploration and development rights for oil and gas tracts.
The CES‐‐Translog Production Function, Returns to Scale and AES
Authors: Kymn Kern O. , Hisnanick John J.
Published: March 2003

The translog functional form imposes no a priori restrictions on the substitution possibilities between the factor inputs, by relaxing the assumption of strong separability, and the CES–translog cost function specification allows for testing homothetic technology with Hicks‐neutral technical change. In this paper an n‐factor CES–translog production function is presented which develops the parameters to directly assess scale effects from those due to technology in the production structure. In addition, by applying Shephard’s lemma it was possible to derive the input demand functions, as well as the partial elasticities of substitution and the cross‐partial price elasticities of demand for a generalized CES–translog production structure.
Measuring Human Capital Like Physical Capital: What Does It Tell Us?
Authors: Judson Ruth
Published: March 2003

In this paper, I develop a measure of human capital stock that is similar to measuring physical capital by its replacement cost. This measure builds on measures of average educational attainment of the labour force. While it is far from an ideal measure, it is an interesting complement to the educational attainment series and other existing measures of human capital accumulation. In cross–country panel regressions, use of this measure of human capital accumulation yields a positive and significant, but relatively small (about ten per cent) elasticity with percapita GDP growth. Unlike physical capital, the stock of human capital as a share of GDP increases with GDP. This is consistent with the Barro et al. (1995) model of growth with non–mobile human capital and with some predictions of Romer’s (1990) model of endogenous growth, but it is not consistent with the predictions of some other growth models.
Should Education be Publicly Provided?
Authors: Trostel Philip A
Published: March 2003

This study suggests that a subsidy in the form of public provision has the potential to be the most efficient educational policy because it stimulates investment in human capital, which would otherwise be inefficiently low because of distortionary income taxation and possible external benefits. Moreover, it can potentially do this without grossly distorting the mix of investments in human capital. Other policies do not have the potential to achieve both these ends without introducing additional, perhaps overwhelming, problems. Thus public provision of education appears to provide incentives for human capital accumulation which are more efficient than any other feasible policy.
The Business of Unethical Weapons
Authors: Elm Nader
Published: March 2003

If recourse to war is sometimes justifiable, then weapons need to be available. But is all fair in war, or can and should some weapons be banned as unethical? If so, how will this affect the arms business in a shrinking market demanding continuous product innovation? The author is completing his MBA degree at London Business School and has a background in electronic engineering and computer science.
Trading with Repressive Regimes
Authors: LeRougetel Charles H.
Published: March 2003

Is it ethical to do business with regimes which are politically repressive or which do not respect Western minimum labour and environmental standards? The author is completing his MBA degree at London Business School, and is a Canadian with a background in marketing.
US Multinationals and Workers’ Rights Globally
Authors: Buzun Kristin E.
Published: March 2003

History shows that legislation can make firms respect their workers’ rights and refrain from victimising them. Given the scale of disregard for workers’ rights around the globe and the absence of a global legislature, should the US step in to protect workforces globally, at least so far as concerns American multinationals? The author is completing her MBA at London Business School and has an American background in accountancy and banking.
Business Ethics on the Internet: 2
Authors: Fairweather N. Ben , Dixon Steve
Published: March 2003

In a previous article the authors provided an introduction to using the internet as a resource for business ethics. In this sequel they look at newsgroups and chatrooms, and conclude by looking at the websites of Shell and a Shell critic on the controversial ethical aspects of its corporate policy and behaviour. Ben Fairweather is a Research Fellow, and Steve Dixon is Webmaster, at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LEl 9BH, England (email: ccsr@dmu.ac.uk) (website http://www.ccsr.cms.dmu.ac.uk/).
Playing by the rules: ethical criteria at an ethical investment fund
Authors: Cowton Christopher
Published: March 2003

Although ethical investment is a growing phenonenon which attracts a signficant amount of media interest, relatively little has been written about the internal operations of ethical investment funds. Using a variety of sources, including interviews with a fund manager and participant observation at meetings of the fund’s ethical advisory committee, this paper examines the decision making of one ethical unit trust operating in the United Kingdom. In particular, it describes the development of the ethical criteria and the ways in which their implementation was monitored. Several significant parallels between publicly stated ethical investment criteria and corporate codes of ethics are then discusssed.
Models of management morality: European applications and implications
Authors: Carroll Archie , Meeks Michael
Published: March 2003

This article explores the extent to which three models of management morality – Immoral Management, Moral Management, and Amoral Management – are extant in the European business environment. After a brief introduction and presentation of examples of each model, a further description of each model and European applications are outlined. Two possible hypotheses regarding the models’ presence in European business are presented and then concluding observations are made.
Corporate and public responsibility, stakeholder theory and the developing world
Authors: Lea David
Published: March 2003

It is often argued that multinational companies and other foreign developers have a responsibility to improve the material conditions of the people in whose territories they operate. As a matter of distributive justice it is thought that these companies should be sharing the acquired wealth with these people through the creation of ‘collective goods’ (like schools and aid posts), infrastructure development and compensation disbursements aimed at their benefit. Recently “stakeholder theory” and even legislative changes in the first world (especially in the US) have sought to impress on the corporate world the necessity to share the profits with affected “non‐shareholder” groups. Many see these developments as possible advancements for indigenous peoples, indigenous rights and the cause of distributive justice for aboriginal groups. However, it can be shown that the attribution of such ‘imperfect’ duties to corporations results in the generation of excessive costs and of unrealistic expectations on the part of stakeholders. Distributive justice is more efficiently achieved by public sector involvement at the level of policy and project management.
What’s the Good of Ethical Theory?
Authors: Kaler John
Published: March 2003

It is argued that presently prevailing ethical theories can be largely dispensed with. Such theories are of limited use in solving ethical problems. They fail because they are ‘reductionist’. They take an aspect of morality to be the whole of morality. Moreover, the very process of constructing, testing, and modifying them reveals that we already have that understanding of the nature of the ethical which they purport to provide us with. (This is labelled the ‘paradox of ethical theory’.) That prior understanding is the identification of morality with the common good. This, it is claimed, is all the understanding we need to approach problems within business ethics or any other branch of ‘applied ethics’.

UNDERSHAFT. ...Well, come! Is there anything you know or care for?

STEPHEN. I know the difference between right and wrong.

UNDERSHAFT. ...Why man you’re a genius, a master of masters, a god! At twentyfour too!

STEPHEN. ... I pretend to nothing more than any honourable English gentleman claims as his birthright.

SHAW, Major Barbara, Act III
Individual, Collective and Social Responsibility of the Firm
Authors: Takala Tuomo , Pallab Paul
Published: March 2003

The main concern of this paper is the moral responsibility of the firm, as well as of the individuals in a firm, to uphold environmental protection. Much of the business ethics literature defines corporate social responsibility in terms of stakeholder relationships, and the emphasis is frequently on collective as opposed to individual responsibility. This paper has three objectives. The first is to clarify the nature of moral responsibility, and the distinction between legal and moral responsibility. The second objective is to steer academicians and others towards a new vision of the firm. We argue that a firm is not just a singular legal entity but also a collectivity of morally responsible individuals who are liable for immoral acts of the firm. By expanding the boundary of responsibility of action from an intangible collectivity – the firm, to all the individuals within it, this vision moves beyond the typical emphasis on the firm as being the only moral agent responsible for corporate actions. The paper emphasizes not simply the responsibility of top echelon managers, but of every employee across ranks. The third goal of this paper is to examine the circumstances where application of moral responsibility becomes crucial, for instance, in the context of protection of the natural environment by a firm and its employees.
From scarcity to abundance: reflections on using African values to combat fraud
Authors: Kanyandago Peter
Published: March 2003

By trying to see how one can use African values to fight against fraud, the paper attempts to bring out the structural dimension of this moral cancer by showing how it is linked to the ethical and economic/business systems where it thrives. I start by making some theoretical remarks about how values are to be placed in each socio‐cultural setting. An analysis of how the free market economy as a system creates conditions where fraud becomes possible then follows. This is contrasted with an analysis of the African worldview and economic system where the starting point is that material and human resources abound, provided they are shared. The paper ends by suggesting ways in which African ethical values can be merged with the dominant economic system.
Putting ethics into investment
Authors: Taylor Robert
Published: March 2003

The article sets out to consider the practice of ethical investment in the light of some basic principles of moral philosophy. After establishing some principles which have been applied to individual or social conduct, it reviews the application of ethics to business, and the precedents established for investment. Because of the links between ethical investment and single‐issue campaigning, there is a detailed consideration of the relationship between campaigning groups and the issues they are concerned with on the one hand, and ethical investment on the other. The conclusion is reached that ethical investment is as much a process as a series of specific aims, and that a diversified ethical fund must consider matters in the round, within the scope of current knowledge, and must avoid an absolutist agenda.
The Israeli approach to advertising: ethical and legal norms
Authors: Frenkel David A. , Lurie Yotam
Published: March 2003

The Israeli approach to advertising consists of two complementary sets of norms, legal norms and moral‐ethical norms. Advertising legislation demands honest disclosure. The Israeli legislator refrains from intervening in fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, free trade, occupation, and liberty of contract in advertising. However, there are also few interventions to prevent phenomena that are dangerous or abusive, especially to groups needing protection. The Israeli courts do try to apply moral considerations in cases tried by them, but living up to moral responsibilities is different from complying with legal obligations. Advertisers in Israel have a(i) Treatise(r), consisting of ten ethical guidelines, which neither sums up advertising ethics in its entirety nor is legally binding. Sociological and psychological features of the culture need to be examined in order to spell out what truth and honesty in advertising actually mean in this society, and the manner in which these values are practised. Lacking sanctions in public law against misleading consumers or manipulation based on false facts, consumers must find remedy in civil actions which rely on moral and ethical rules.
Global harmonisation of the professional behaviour of accountants
Authors: Farrell Brian J. , Cobbin Deirdre M.
Published: March 2003

This paper reports findings from a study into national associations of accountants from the perspective of the model code of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. Using data collected from a survey document, the paper analyses the extent of the model code’s influence in an international process of harmonisation of ethical rules for accountants. Obstacles to the adoption of the model code are examined, as is the impact that government supervision of codes has had on harmonisation efforts. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between professional independence and close family relationships and culture. Findings are also presented on other issues of code content, and the most appropriate body for interpreting national codes is identified. These items were included as matters of then current concern to the Ethics Committee of IFAC.
Business ethics: a SWOT exercise
Authors: Webley Simon
Published: March 2003

This paper reflects on the present state of business ethics. The question has become more complex in an era of globalisation: cross‐border activities make it particularly difficult for companies to formulate effective ethical programmes which are true to core corporate values. The author presents his reflection in terms of a SWOT analysis, examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats likely to be experienced by business ethics in the new millennium. He concludes that the challenge for business ethics is to work for global agreement on common values and common approaches to issues of integrity and trust in global business.
Becoming a reflective practitioner: a continuing professional development strategy through humanistic action research
Authors: Hartog Mary
Published: March 2003

This article seeks to show how Human Resource Management and Development practitioners can develop an ethics of practice by adopting a Humanistic Action Research approach toward their Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Central to this approach is the development of reflective practice skills, in itself a journey of development. I aim to give a flavour of what this practice has meant for me as a professional educator by sharing an account of my own CPD using this approach. This approach is for the mature practitioner and it is located within Humanistic Action Research: to be appropriate, it necessitates a maturity of ego and not simply professional maturity and status. The article will discuss what this maturation process involves and will show its centrality to reflective practice. Within this framework of human inquiry, CPD requires an undertaking to engage in first person Action Research, where ‘I’ am the subject and object of my inquiry. At the heart of this approach is the pragmatic question at the centre of any approach to CPD ‘How do I improve my practice?’
Ethics from the top: top management and ethical business
Authors: Schroeder Doris
Published: March 2003

Codes of ethics and conduct typically demand the highest standard of ethical behaviour from every single employee. This implies a democratic or lobbyist understanding of ethics in business. The contrasting view would argue that business ethics is an elitist undertaking that can only be instigated from the top, by managing directors or owner managers. This article looks at three types of ethical businesses, three types of approaches to ethical problem‐solving, and three possible incentives for ethical business to see which of the above is more convincing. It will be argued that the impulse for value‐driven business has to come from the top. Only top management and owner managers have the opportunity to foster major change in business practice.
Sourcing ethics in the textile sector: the case of C&A
Authors: Graafland Johan J.
Published: March 2003

During the last years competition in the textile sector has increased, putting financial returns under considerable pressure. As a result, production has shifted to low wage countries in the third world. This has raised the relevance of ethical procedures. This paper analyses how C&A, as one of the largest Western apparel companies, organises its sourcing ethics, notwithstanding the financial pressure in the market. Based on interviews with Asian suppliers of C&A during the second half of 2000, we review the opinions of external stakeholders about the sourcing ethics of C&A. Finally, we evaluate C&A’s sourcing ethics from a theoretical perspective.
Integrity, responsibility and affinity: three aspects of ethics in banking
Authors: Cowton C.J.
Published: March 2003

Banking, in common with other areas of finance, is often considered an amoral field focused purely on risk and return. However, ethics does have an important role to play, both traditionally and as business and banking evolve. Based on a speech to a European Union conference on financing small and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs), this paper seeks to provide an overview of ethics in banking using three terms. Integrity is important to generate the trust necessary for any banking system to flourish, responsibility highlights contemporary banks’ need to take into account the consequences of their lending policies, and affinity refers to a set of relatively novel ways in which depositors and borrowers can be brought closer together than they are in conventional western banking.
Acceptability of operations as an indicator of corporate social performance
Authors: Mikkilä Mirja
Published: March 2003

There has been much theoretical debate on issues of business ethics during the last decades, but there has been little research which could concretise the content of these issues in terms of practical business. Although business life must frequently deal with concepts such as corporate social performance, business ethics and the acceptability of operations, the content and meaning of these concepts has remained flexible. In addition, rapid internationalisation and globalisation have introduced a number of new phenomena related to corporate social performance. An attempt at defining the concepts more precisely and searching for a potential indicator was considered necessary in order to concretise the business environment facing corporations engaged in internationalisation and globalisation. The connection between corporate social performance and stakeholder theory provides a basis for the proposal put forward here that acceptability of operation could be employed as an indicator of corporate social performance. This approach was then applied to developing a model which could be used to assess corporate social performance.
Politicking and Privatisation
Authors: Antal‐Mokos Zoltán
Published: March 2003

This article charts the privatisation process in a Hungarian firm. It was a long, complicated and high profile journey, typifying what the author calls a “struggling through” scenario, as distinct from “going through” and “muddling through”. The case underlines the fact that privatisation in Central and Eastern Europe (and elsewhere) needs to be considered in the context of a political view of organisations, as a complement to the dominant economic model based on agency theory.
Democracy and Economy: What Role for Stakeholders?
Authors: Nuti D.
Published: March 2003

This article introduces a note of caution to the stakeholding debate. Current discussions on stakeholders neglect their diversity and confuse alternative modes of stakeholder protection at the enterprise level; namely: direct shareholding, voluntary protection by enterprises, statutory protection, by ad hoc legislation or by granting them a voice. Public policy considerations differ widely in each case. The author views the idea of a nationwide “stakeholder economy” as an unwarranted extension and a misnomer.
The Environment as Stakeholder
Authors: Jacobs Michael
Published: March 2003

Because they have no voice, the environment and future generations are all too often ignored in decision‐making, both at the macroeconomic level and in the firm. This article makes the case for explicit recognition of these interests as stakeholders. At the level of the firm this might be done through the appointment of a non‐executive “Environment Director” with specific responsibility.
Stakeholding and Full Employment
Authors: Philpott John
Published: March 2003

John Philpott argues the case that moving towards full employment is a structural rather than a macroeconomic issue, and points to the ned for social consensus to underpin any improvement.
The Problem of Investment
Authors: Temple Paul
Published: March 2003

Paul Temple argues that investment needs to increase – and indicates some of the elements which would need to underpin any investment strategy adopted by government.
Basis for an Industry Policy
Authors: Stout David
Published: March 2003

David Stout summarises the three “Cs” that will be needed if the Foresight Programme is to achieve its aim of empowering far‐sighted investment for the next generation of stakeholders in British society.
Strategic Decisions and All That Jazz
Authors: Eisenhardt Kathleen M.
Published: March 2003

This article presents some first thoughts on the significance of improvisation in the process by which strategic decisions are made.
The Takeover Battle for Fjord Line
Authors: Sørgard Lars
Published: March 2003

This article applies game theory to a particular takeover battle in 1995. The author concludes that, in order to calculate the maximum price it is worth paying to acquire another company, firms should invest a lot of effort in predicting the effects of the takeover process and outcome on the future moves of their takeover rivals. The case study also illustrates how important it is for firms to check whether a rival’s threats are empty or credible: for example, whether it is in the interest of an incumbent to maintain as many products as before after a new firm has entered the market.
Monetary Union – a Successful Venture for Europe?
Authors: Sentance Andrew
Published: March 2003

A broad EMU is now in prospect when the single European currency is launched in 1999, including ten or eleven EU member states. The UK could also join early in the next century “if EMU is a success”. This article describes the path to monetary union and discusses the potential problems and opportunities raised by this ambitious project. Distinguishing between technical and economic success, it outlines three potential sources of tension and difficulty for those joining in the first wave, and argues that Britain will not be able to avoid its effects even though it will not be joining initially.
The European Business Lobby
Authors: Coen David
Published: March 2003

Lobbying is a familiar if not always welcome reality in politics and many now recognise that companies have a legitimate role to play in the public policy process. But how firms set about exerting influence – and what works best – is still something of a mystery. In particular, few empirical studies have examined how firms have tackled the fast‐changing Brussels maze. Based on interviews and a survey, this article outlines how firms have come to play a prominent role in the European Union’s policy process and how their approach to influencing EU policy has developed. It then analyzes which methods they think are most effective – and most cost‐effective. The author concludes by assessing the extent to which building strategic alliances with rival firms and public interest groups facilitates their own direct lobbying at the European Commission forums, and vice‐versa.
The Evolution of the Firm’s Regulatory Affairs Office
Authors: Coen David , Willman Paul
Published: March 2003

In the UK in the last fifteen years, independent regulators have increasingly monitored privatised companies in utilities, transport and telecommunications: both to oversee the natural monopoly elements of service provision and to foster competition and innovation where feasible. Within these companies, a managerial function has emerged specifically to cope with relationships with regulators. Coming to terms with the role of the regulator and the demands of the various regulatory frameworks has been a central part of the process of turning public sector monopolies into public companies responsive to shareholders and customers. This article chronicles and analyses the development of the "regulation function" within firms and concludes with four recommendations for managers.
The Phoenix Process at Fluke Corporation
Authors: Martins Joe
Published: March 2003

When the end of the Cold War threatened Fluke Corporation’s future growth, it developed a structured process to achieve continuous reincarnation...
Exploiting the Wired‐up World
Authors: Aris John
Published: March 2003

This article describes part of a research project sponsored by the European Commission and the Swiss Government called “Project Achieve”
Privatization and Strategic Fit: Evidence from Rumania
Authors: Brouthers Keith D. , Arens Patrick
Published: March 2003

This article is a contribution to the growing body of research on the privatisation process in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It reports on a study of enterprises in Rumania which sought to establish whether privatisation there improves performance and, if so, whether ownership by managers and employees is beneficial and whether smaller enterprises perform better than larger ones. Broadly, the authors conclude that the answer to all three of these questions is “yes”. The article then outlines the implications for CEE policy‐makers, in particular that they should speed up the process of privatisation, (even if foreign investors are not available) and split up large enterprises, whether state‐owned or privatised.
Making Sense of the Third Way
Authors: Nuti D. Mario
Published: March 2003

Books reviewed in this article:

Anthony Giddens, The Third Way

Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder, The Way Forward for Europe’s Social Democrats – A Proposal
Russian Voices from a Danish Company
Authors: Michailova Snejina , Anisimova Alla
Published: March 2003

This article starts by discussing inclusion and exclusion as key characteristerics of local middle managers and specialists working in a foreign‐owned company. It then analyzes the way these characteristics distinguish two groups of Russians working for a Danish company in Russia – the “insiders” and “outsiders”– including how they interpret and react to foreign managers’ decision‐making andplanning. The Russians’ ideas and practice of decision‐making and planningwere very different from those adopted by the Danes. The article concludes bysuggesting guidelines on how to reduce cross‐cultural conflicts.
Shopping
Authors: Furnham Adrian
Published: March 2003

Books reviewed:

Paco Underhill, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping

Adrienne Baker (ed), Serious Shopping. Psychotherapy and Consumerism

Julian Markham, The Future of Shopping

Steffano Korper and Juanita Ellis, The E‐Commerce Book

Daniel Miller, A Theory of Shopping
3G Mobile: The Push to Wireless Data across Europe
Authors: Sirel Esen , Waverman Leonard
Published: March 2003

As governments and firms rush to third generation ‘3G’ mobile telecommunications, this article considers three key problems: the conflict over 3G standards, which pits European GSM equipment against a US group; the patchwork of 3G regulation across Europe; and the mechanism for awarding licences. The authors argue that the auction mechanism is far preferable for consumers to ‘beauty contests’ but that other countries still to award licences could improve on the UK design.
Strategic Outsourcing: Lessons from a Systems Integrator
Authors: McIvor Ronan
Published: March 2003

This article explores the question of how outsourcing works in practice. ‘Telequip’, a telecoms equipment supplier, adopted a core competency strategy under which activities outside its ‘core business’ of order fulfilment were to be outsourced. Detailed research on three of the outsourcing decisions which flowed from this strategy, including attending meetings between Telequip and its suppliers, led the author to conclude that in practice it wasn't all as neat as that. He argues that Telequip used its core competency strategy to get rid of problem‐ridden business activities and that outsourcing risks loss of key skills.
The End of Progress
Authors: Hamel Gary
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Gary Hamel, Leading the Revolution
Strategy Tradeoffs in the Knowledge and Network Economy
Authors: Fjeldstad Øystein D. , Haanœs Knut
Published: March 2003

In traditional “value chain” firms, the main activity tradeoff is between differentiation and low cost. Increasingly, however, firms are creating customer value through networks (eg AOL) or by providing knowledge‐based solutions for customers (eg venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins). This article discusses the quite different activity tradeoffs faced by these “value networks” and “value shops”. It then explores the tradeoff between exploitation (focusing on short‐term performance) and exploration (focusing on transcending short‐term activity tradeoffs). Finally, in reviewing the implications for managers, it discusses the problem of trying to manage different types of business (value chains, networks and shops) within the same corporation.
Vision is 10%, Implementation the Rest
Authors: Jick Todd D.
Published: March 2003

We all know that vision leadership is much more than simply articulating the vision. But few leaders give enough attention to implementation. Leaders and their visions are judged by how well they have mobilized commitment, by the extent to which new ways of working have become routinized and by how well the overall culture, including their own behavior, supports and reinforces their vision.
What Makes a Successful Global Executive?
Authors: Hollenbeck George P. , McCall, Jr. Morgan W.
Published: March 2003

Even organizations with long histories and considerable success in staffing their global businesses often feel their strategies for executive development are inadequate. This article, based on an in‐depth study of successful global executives,seeks to identify the best ways of developing their talent ‐ arguing that they are made, not born. The authors found that the underlying development processes are the same for global as for domestic executives, but that the experiences they need and the lessons they must learn are very different. The article discusses these and what both the organizations and the executives themselves must do to make it all happen.
Mobile Internet: Moving Beyond E–business
Authors: Narduzzi Edoardo
Published: March 2003

First there was e–business, now comes mobile business. Industry insider Edoardo Narduzzi looks at the different opportunities and challenges posed by data on the move.
Accounting Scandals: Where were the CFOs?
Authors: Howell Robert A
Published: March 2003

Amid the epidemic of corporate scandals and plummeting market values, the heads of corporate finance functions have often been conspicuous by their absence.
Sleep/Wake States of Preterm Infants: Stability, Developmental Change, Diurnal Variation, and Relation with Caregiving Activity
Authors: Thoman Evelyn B. , Ingersoll Evan W.
Published: March 2003

Using time‐lapse video, we recorded the sleep/wake states of 95 preterm infants, born under 1500 g and cared for in three hospitals, for three 24‐hr periods at 33 and 35 weeks conceptional age. The videotapes were scored in 5‐min epochs for quiet sleep (QS); active sleep (AS); wakefulness (Wa); bout lengths of QS (QSBL), AS (ASBL), and waking (WaBL); nursing/caregiving periods (Crgv); bout lengths of Crgv (CrgvBL); and time out of the crib (OOC). The infants' sleep showed significant individual differences at each age, over age, and from day to nighttime. They showed developmental changes in QS, AS, Wa, and QSBL. QS and QSBL were positively related to caregiving time; ASBL was related to maternal age; and QS was related to gestational age and birth weight. Thus, very low birth weight preterm infants show marked stability and developmental change in the organization of the sleep/wake states from a very early age, and their states are related to demographic variables as well as temporal measures of caregiving.
Toward a Developmental Model of Child Compliance: The Role of Emotion Regulation in Infancy
Authors: Stifter Cynthia A. , Spinrad Tracy , Braungart‐Rieker Julia
Published: March 2003

The present study examined the relation between early emotion regulation and later compliance. When infants were 5, 10, and 18 months of age, they participated in a frustration task. The degree to which they reacted negatively to the stimuli and the behaviors they used to regulate that response were coded. Baseline heart rate also was recorded and a measure of cardiac vagal tone (VNA) was derived. Several tasks (electrode placement, toy clean‐up, and test situation) were administered to elicit compliance/noncompliance when the participants were 30 months of age. Results revealed that infants who demonstrated low levels of regulatory behavior were more likely to be noncompliant as toddlers. Several interaction effects suggested that the prediction to later noncompliance was also dependent upon the infants' level of reactivity. Cardiac vagal tone also was related to compliance but in a contradictory fashion. High VNA was related to noncompliance to toy clean‐up, whereas low VNA was related to noncompliance to electrode placement. The data provide support for a developmental model of compliance that includes the ability to regulate emotional arousal.
Individual and Developmental Differences in Disengagement of Fixation in Early Infancy
Authors: Frick Janet E. , Colombo John , Saxon Terrill F.
Published: March 2003

The current study investigated whether individual and developmental differences in look duration are correlated with the latency for infants to disengage fixation from a visual stimulus. Ninety‐four infants (52 3‐month‐olds, 42 4‐month‐olds) were tested in a procedure that measured ocular reaction time to shift fixation from a central target to a peripheral target under conditions in which the central target either remained present (“competition” condition) or was removed from the display (“noncompetition” condition). Look duration was correlated with disengagement latency; longer‐looking infants were slower than shorter‐looking infants to shift fixation to the peripheral target on competition trials, but not noncompetition trials. Results were similar for 3‐ and 4‐month‐olds, although 3‐month‐olds showed slower latencies on all trials. Furthermore, long‐looking infants were not consistently slower, but rather showed greater variability in their response latencies under conditions that required disengagement of fixation. The results support the position that developmental and individual differences in look duration are linked to the development of the neural attentional systems that control the ability to disengage, or inhibit, visual fixation.
Development of Adjustment Problems in Girls: What Syndromes Emerge?
Authors: Wângby Margit , Bergman Lars R. , Magnusson David
Published: March 2003

The development of a broad spectrum of adjustment problems in girls was studied longitudinally from late childhood to early adulthood. A specific interest concerned how well the externalizing – internalizing distinction could explain the data. The sample consisted of about 500 Swedish girls, reasonably representative of the general population. Variable‐oriented methods were complemented with person‐oriented methods to study syndrome formation at the level of the individual. The results suggested a rather diversified pattern of multiproblem syndromes in late childhood, whereas the syndrome structure in early adolescence was organized around a differentiation between girls with externalizing adjustment problems and girls with peer problems. An externalizing syndrome was found to be stable between late childhood and early adolescence, increasing the risk of severe maladjustment in adulthood. Internalizing problems showed no clear‐cut continuity with adult maladjustment. Results are discussed in relation to the externalizing – internalizing distinction, which to some extent is called in question.
Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations between Children's Playground Behavior and Social Preference, Victimization, and Bullying
Authors: Boulton Michael J.
Published: March 2003

Prior research with contrived play groups suggests that how children interact with one another can influence their social relationships, but few studies have been carried out to determine if this is the case in naturalistic settings. This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal links between four observational measures of 8‐ to 9‐year‐old children's (N = 89) playground behaviors/peer contacts (Alone, Conversation, Group Size, and Network) and three sociometric measures of their peer relationships (Social Preference, Bully, and Victim). The latter were assessed at 2 points within a school year, the first corresponding with the playground observations and the second 5 months later. Several of the concurrent correlations were found to be significant. For boys, Group Size was positively correlated with Bully Score and Social Preference Score, but negatively correlated with Victim Score; and time Alone was positively correlated with Victim Score. For girls, time Alone was positively correlated with Victim Score; Network was negatively correlated with Bully Score but positively correlated with Social Preference Score; and Group Size was positively correlated with Social Preference Score. The longitudinal analyses indicated that for boys, elevated levels of time Alone and, separately, Conversation, predicted the highest increases in Victim Score. For girls, low levels of time Alone predicted the sharpest increases in Social Preference Score. There was also some marginally significant evidence, p < .06, that among girls, high levels of time Alone predicted the greatest increases in Bully Score, and high levels of Conversation predicted the greatest increases in Social Preference Score. The theoretical and practical importance of these links between children's nonaggressive playground behaviors and their emerging peer relationships are discussed.
Life Experiences among Urban Adolescents: Examining the Role of Context
Authors: Allison Kevin W. , Burton Linda , Marshall Sheree , Perez‐Febles Alina , Yarrington Jason , Kirsh Linda Bloch , Merriwether‐DeVries Cynthia
Published: March 2003

Interest in the influence of context on the psychosocial development of adolescents led to the examination of neighborhood effects on the experience of adolescent life stress. Because of concerns regarding the population and ecological validity of existing measures of adolescent life events, the research group developed a scale for the measurement of life events among urban adolescents based on data from focus group interviews in the community of interest. Investigators utilized three strategies to examine the impact of neighborhood on adolescents' perceptions of life stress in a sample of 114 adolescents (mean age = 15). Results indicated that life stress in the peer domain varied by the adolescent's neighborhood of residence. In addition, family/community stress was linearly related to neighborhood indices of economic resources.
Developmental Changes in Imitation from Television during Infancy
Authors: Barr Rachel , Hayne Harlene
Published: March 2003

Infants' (N = 276) ability to learn from television under seminaturalistic conditions was examined in five experiments with 12‐, 15‐, and 18‐month‐olds. In all experiments, an adult performed a series of specific actions with novel stimuli. Some infants watched the demonstration live, and some infants watched the same demonstration on television from prerecorded videotape. Infants' ability to reproduce the target actions was then assessed either immediately or after a 24‐hour delay. Infants of all ages exhibited imitation when the actions were modeled live. There were age‐related and task‐related differences, however, in infants' ability to imitate the same actions modeled on television. The role of perceptual, attentional, and cognitive development in the ability to learn from television is discussed.
All Other Things Being Equal: Acquisition and Transfer of the Control of Variables Strategy
Authors: Chen Zhe , Klahr David
Published: March 2003

The ability to design unconfounded experiments and make valid inferences from their outcomes is an essential skill in scientific reasoning. The present study addressed an important issue in scientific reasoning and cognitive development: how children acquire a domain‐general processing strategy (Control of Variables Strategy or CVS) and generalize it across various contexts. Seven‐ to 10‐year‐olds (N = 87) designed and evaluated experiments and made inferences from the experimental outcomes. When provided with explicit training within domains, combined with probe questions, children were able to learn and transfer the basic strategy for designing unconfounded experiments. Providing probes without direct instruction, however, did not improve children's ability to design unconfounded experiments and make valid inferences. Direct instruction on CVS not only improved the use of CVS, but also facilitated conceptual change in the domain because the application of CVS led to unconfounded, informative tests of domain‐specific concepts. With age, children increasingly improved their ability to transfer learned strategies to remote situations. A trial‐by‐trial assessment of children's strategy use also allowed the examination of the source, rate, path, and breadth of strategy change.
Parenting of Divorced Mothers as a Link between Social Status and Boys' Academic Outcomes: Unpacking the Effects of Socioeconomic Status
Authors: DeGarmo David S. , Forgatch Marion S. , Martinez, Jr. Charles R.
Published: March 2003

Socialization theories posit parenting practices as mechanisms linking socioeconomic status (SES) and children's academic outcomes. A mediational parenting model was tested examining separate effects of maternal education, occupation, and income for a sample of 238 divorced or recently separated mothers of 6‐ to 9‐year‐old sons. For the SEM path models, each indicator of SES was associated with better parenting, and parenting in turn had indirect effects on achievement through home skill‐building activities and school behavior. The direct effect of maternal education on achievement was mediated by home skill‐building activities, the direct effect of maternal occupation on achievement was not mediated, and income measures had no direct effects on achievement. These findings underscore the importance of unpacking the effects of SES and the relevance of effective parenting practices as a protective factor in the home and school environment for young boys' school success during postdivorce adjustment.