bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How can organizational leaders really lead and serve at the same time?
Authors: Wildes Vivienne J.
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a new paradigm that challenges managers of hospitality services to include the component of corporate social responsibility (CSR) into the business plan. The objective is to answer the question: how can organizational leaders really lead and serve at the same time?

Design/methodology/approach

The design follows a research of the literature from a global perspective to show that CSR preserves losses related to the breach of cultural, environmental, economic, physical, and linguistic boundaries associated with globalization.

Findings

Evidence shows CSR safeguards are, otherwise, extraordinary assets to create a sophisticated business portfolio with increase in earnings at least in keeping with or surpassing more traditional portfolios. Discussion points include variations in the interpretation of CSR between countries, and the need for legal policy to enforce implementation of CSR practices for companies both at home and abroad in order to protect human rights, social investments, environment, culture, language, fair trade, and economic sustainability.

Practical implications

Several practical management tactics for CSR are presented in a chart accompanying the text. These include ideas and ways to: implement change in the workplace, save energy, communicate with employees and guests, clean with green products, and save money.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable to managers arguing for or seeking investment opportunities with sound CSR initiatives.
No plantation work here: contemporary HR practices in Caribbean hotels
Authors: Crick Anne P.
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which Caribbean hotels are managed in a way that is reminiscent of the plantation system.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys are used to determine the human resource challenges and the responses to these challenges in three Caribbean destinations. Survey data is collected from 110 respondents including hotel employees, hotel managers and owners, human resource managers, policy officials and trade union officials.

Findings

The study determined that service excellence is a competitive strategy in the three destinations and managers therefore seek to attract and retain the best performers. Working individually and cooperatively with government and other tourism stakeholders, managers have therefore created a work environment that is empowering and participative rather than one that is reflective of the plantation era.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to the English‐speaking Caribbean and may therefore not be generalisable to the wider Caribbean. Future research should also examine the views in more detail through focus groups.

Originality/value

The paper responds to a commonly held view about tourism by providing an updated and more comprehensive view of the practices in Caribbean hotels. It also differentiates between the practices of small and large hotels.
Rethinking quality and improvement in higher education
Authors: Houston Don
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically review dominant conceptions of and approaches to quality in higher education. It suggests an alternative approach with potential to shift the focus of quality activities from accountability and control to improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

The applicability and limits of quality concepts and models are critically reviewed against key systems concepts of purpose, boundaries and environments. The limited transferability and utility of such models and the tensions between control and improvement are discussed.

Findings

The language and tools of industry‐born quality models are an imperfect fit to higher education. Authentic quality improvement is more likely to result from approaches to systemic intervention that encourage exploration of questions of purpose and of the meaning of improvement in context than from the imposition of definitions and methodologies from elsewhere.

Research limitations/implications

Evidence to support the utility of systems approaches in higher education is limited. Research into their use is needed.

Practical implications

Systemic approaches are complex but likely to be beneficial.

Originality/value

The paper takes a systemic perspective on quality likely to be of value in encouraging debate and different interventions for improvement.
A real options perspective of platform investments in service firms
Authors: Davis Jullet A. , Marino Louis , Aaron Joshua
Published: February 2008

Purpose

Real options theory has been used to examine how manufacturing firms make incremental investments under conditions of uncertainty. However, it has not been extensively applied to service firms. Using real options theory, the purpose of this article is to explore how service firms make platform investments.

Design/methodology/approach

Data come from a survey of Florida nursing homes. Several hypotheses examine the extent to which organizational characteristics, environmental scanning, internal and external slack, and entrepreneurial orientation impact the degree of investment in a portfolio of services to community based clients. Data were analyzed via ordinary least squares regression.

Findings

Results indicate a positive relationship between platform investments and customer preferences and nursing home innovativeness. Risk‐taking behavior and internal slack received mixed support.

Research limitations/implications

The study did not include measures of economic performance; therefore, it is unclear if differences in market strategies yield better financial outcomes for the nursing homes. The study was set in the nursing home industry that is a highly regulated service industry. It is possible that specific attributes of this industry impacted our results.

Practical implications

In deciding whether an options approach to managing customer value is appropriate for any individual service firms, managers should consider that a firm's strategic posture and the availability of slack resources.

Originality/value

There has been relatively little research in the management literature that examines how firms in a service context employ strategies and tactics consistent with options theory to reduce uncertainty. This lack of research is problematic given that service firms compromise an increasing percentage of the GDP of many developed countries.
Reading newspapers on the Internet: the influence of web sites' attributes
Authors: Flavián Carlos , Gurrea Raquel
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze key factors that could influence the choice of digital newspapers: usability of newspaper web sites, reputation, trust, privacy and familiarity.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey on the Internet was applied. The scales were validated and refined, after which the hypotheses were tested by way of a structural equation model.

Findings

The results support an intense effect of usability and familiarity with web sites on the choice of electronic newspaper. However, reputation, privacy and trust in the web sites do not influence significantly the final choice of digital dailies. This is due to the readers who do not perceive risk and costs derived by choosing mistakes or giving data, because the change of news supplier is really fast and easy.

Research limitations/implications

The main aspects which justify digital newspaper reading should be considered by the management in order to develop its use. Also, newspaper firms should make efforts to improve the levels of usability of their web sites. Moreover, digital dailies should develop strategies in order to ensure the loyalty of readers who could be familiarized with the new medium.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies that analyze online press reader behavior on the Internet. The paper identifies the main factors related to web sites that affect reading newspapers on the Internet.
Constructing the café university: teaching and learning on the digital frontier
Authors: Reinhart Cornel J.
Published: February 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine changes occurring in the organization and delivery of learning at the level of higher education, and argues that it is now possible to envision the shape and structures of the future digital university.

Design/methodology/approach

Beginning with a history of the basic organizational paradigm underlying the traditional university, this paper systematically explores the impact on this paradigm of new technological and pedagogical innovations: learning management systems (LMSs), learning objects, iPods, blogs, student e‐mail, wireless connectivity, Google's search capacity, distance (web‐based) education, and blended learning on the pedagogy of tertiary education.

Findings

The physical structure of the university is a consequence of the hierarchically organization of knowledge, the predominant model from the late middle ages through the industrial era. As knowledge becomes more extensive and complex, the old organization is proving inadequate. The organization of knowledge in several dimensions will bring a massive restructuring of institutions of higher education. The new digital university will have the web rather than disciplines and the library at its virtual center with (nearly) infinite access to the larger peripheral world. No longer holding a monopoly on information, the postmodern café university competes with commercial, for‐profit institutions of learning, thus offering traditional and new adult learners immediate access and enormous learning flexibility. This enables students of all ages to take advantage of learning experiences from any connected institution, commercial or traditional, in the world.

Originality/value

As a comprehensive and systematic examination of the impact of digital tools in the contemporary university, this paper can offer guidance to university administrators, faculty members, and others involved in the educational process.
Can we talk? Course management software and the construction of knowledge
Authors: Payne Carla R. , Reinhart Cornel J.
Published: February 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the question: how well do course management systems (CMS) support constructivist pedagogy; how well do they support conversation?

Design/methodology/approach

This article reviews the basic pedagogical orientation of CMS as recently represented by analysts and proponents, while offering an analysis of the implications of these theoretical positions for learner activity within CMS. It compares CMS structural design for its capacity to support collaborative learning against inherent tendencies to fragmentation, individualization and learner isolation. Sampling a widely adopted CMS in use, the article analyzes how well CMSs fulfill the specifications for a progressive, collaborative, learner‐centered environment.

Findings

Despite protestations to the contrary, this paper finds that the imperatives to manage discussions and count participation supersede pedagogy in most online courses. Curiously, despite the reemergence of the ideas of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky, the CMS is more behaviorist than constructivist.

Originality/value

As a comprehensive and systematic consideration of the application of constructivist principles to course management systems at the tertiary level, this paper offers guidance to university administrators, faculty members and others involved in the educational process. The author's conclude that if the underlying, non‐neutral, behaviorist principles of the emerging CMS model are subjected to educators' analysis and thoughtful debate, perhaps it's not too late to build learning architecture that encourages student interaction and conversations; that cedes greater control to learners for integrated participation and constructed learning.
Intranet editors as corporate gatekeepers and agenda setters
Authors: Lehmuskallio Sari
Published: February 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the decision‐making practices and processes related to gathering, selecting, and publishing of internal corporate news through intranets in large multinationals in Finland.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on eight semi‐structured interviews of intranet editors responsible for the corporate news on the intranet.

Findings

Intranet editors are the main corporate gatekeepers and agenda setters making news publication decisions; i.e. determining what is important and newsworthy. These editors make decisions independently rather than collectively, thus news gathering is greatly affected by the networking and organizational skills of the individual editors. Companies prefer neutral news. Honesty and openness are principles that justify also the publication of “bad news.”

Research limitations/implications

This study explored how intranet editors construct reality through shaping internal communication content. The study did not attempt to assess the effects or effectiveness of this communication. Similarly, although intranet's goals and purposes were assessed, the extent to which the intranet helps the company achieve its strategic goals was not analyzed in detail. Further, research is needed to explore these important issues.

Practical implications

This paper offers practical examples of how large multinationals convey internal news through intranets. It highlights aspects that may help companies improve intranet's strategic value by enhancing internal communication through the intranet.

Originality/value

This paper reveals the power of individual editors in constructing reality for the organization. It also offers practitioners, researchers, teachers, and students a rare view into the real‐life processes and practices related to communication via intranets that can rarely be accessed and evaluated by outsiders.
Measuring work preferences
Authors: Gilbert G. Ronald , Sohi Ravipreet S. , McEachern Adriana G.
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a multidimensional work preference research instrument, and to relate scores on these dimensions with subjects' real world work choices.

Design/methodology/approach

Repeated samples of 1,002 and 975 adult subjects were used to identify 17 empirically derived constructs, using both EFA and CFA statistical applications. The CFA revealed measurement invariance among the predicted and measured constructs. The 17 validated constructs were culled from career development‐related psychology that has variously been identified with learning styles, work interests, work values, and temperament. Using a third sample of 590 subjects, MANOVA analyses of work preference scores were conducted with working adults, representing ten different types of work. When the scores on the 17 measures were compared with occupational choices made by the subjects, significant differences in outcomes were identified, indicating commonality within specific work types.

Research limitations/implications

Because the work preference construct is relatively new and fluid, continuous research is needed to gain greater understanding of the construct and its characteristics. Additional sampling and tests for measurement invariance are indicated using cross‐national samples, as well as non‐English‐speaking languages. Samples from younger, pre‐career subjects in secondary schools and representing a wide array of demographic characteristics are also needed as the research progresses. In addition, more studies are needed to test for predictive validity, using other unobtrusive performance measures taken at different points in time.

Practical implications

Multiple measures embedded in one tool may prove useful aids to people when making career choice decisions that are associated with the selection of short‐term work placement, long‐term career occupations, and academic fields of study. The development of this tool will enable career development researchers to examine the relationships of psychological constructs identified with different fields of psychological measurement, and examine these constructs as they relate to classroom, organizational and cross‐national contexts.

Originality/value

The creation of a tool consisting of measures from multiple psychological fields for use in short‐term career planning, job placement, and enrichment is novel. When combined, the multiple constructs used in this instrument have been found to provide a constellation of useful indicators that are related to career choice and work placement decisions. The measures are also likely to be useful in cross‐national research contexts.
Transforming access: the role of data within service improvement to transform access to services
Authors: Taylor Julia R.A. , Shouls Susanna
Published: February 2008

Purpose

Data have a critical role in supporting service improvement and this is particularly the case for service improvement to reduce waiting times. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the barriers managers face in accessing and using data effectively for 18 weeks and then describes how a service improvement tool developed by the NHS Institute can help to overcome these.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the core function of data to support service improvement processes and the development of a national tool to support the transformation of access with the National Health Service in England.

Findings

The review of the core function of data identified a range of barriers: access to data for service improvement; the appropriate use of data to analyse the dynamics of variation and therefore for decision making; and the capacity and capability to use data. The size and immediacy of the 18‐week challenge means that a national solution needs to focus on being practical and overcoming some of these barriers.

Originality/value

A perspective of the reality of using data for service improvement and using it to transform access to health services.
How can we make improvement happen?
Authors: Crump Bernard
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the key factors that trigger and drive improvement in the NHS and in health care more widely, and to suggest what practical steps can be taken to speed it up.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper outlines the varied improvement drivers that impact on health care organisations today – establishing a basic understanding of the different motivating factors behind each. Building on this, the paper explores the shared attributes of successful health care improvement practice and highlights the processes and tools that are helping many frontline NHS organisations achieve faster and better improvement locally.

Findings

There are many reasons that trigger improvement efforts in the health service and most have a valid role to play. But underpinning them all are four fundamental skill and knowledge sets: leadership; performance and metrics; the right tools and processes; and relationships. One important way to unlock the potential for faster improvement in patient care is for organisations and individuals to understand the profound relevance of these four areas to their own improvement work, and to know about the tools and techniques that are proven to help.

Originality/value

This paper helps address the broad and recognised need across the NHS and wider health service to build service improvement capacity, capability and will. It clarifies the priority areas where organisations, clinicians, health care professionals and improvers at all levels need to develop, and it offers practical steps to help ensure this happens.
The internet and potentialities of emancipatory change
Authors: Sikka Prem
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to encourage the academic community to disseminate and communicate information and knowledge beyond the academy and engage wider audiences.

Design/methodology/approach

To use new mediums of communication to inform, galvanise and infuriate audiences and possibly try to render the familiar unfamiliar or show that even the technical and complex issues have social relevance and consequences.

Findings

The two blogs reproduced in this paper sought to communicate some aspects of accounting to a wider audience. In trying to reach a wider audience and communicate inconvenient facts some purity of ideas may be diluted, but the alternative is silence and vacation of public spaces to organised interests.

Originality/value

The article reproduces real life newspaper blogs to show that communication with a wider audience is possible.
Elements for sociology of profit
Authors: Breton Gaétan , Caron Marie‐Andrée
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to revisit the foundations of profit and then consider the central role of the profit in the society inspired by the accounting practice, through its influence in the social construction of the accountant's competency, and of the use accounting profession itself.

Design/methodology/approach

Inspired largely by the sociology of the professions, this paper also borrows from classical economic theory to understand the contradictory role and functioning of the conventional notion of profit in the society.

Findings

The paper presents the accountant as the master and great academic of this convention, and the profit as constituting for him a key resource in establishing an undisputed consensus around his competency based on a social valorization. This sacralization originates from the emptying of the economic concept while referring constantly to it. Therefore, the meaning is noisy and then, can be manipulated.

Originality/value

The profit is the main product sell by the accounting profession and the accounting notion most widely discussed in the society. Therefore, to understand its social functioning is essential to understand the social role of accounting and the social statute of accountants.
Collaborative academic/practitioner research in project management
Authors: Walker Derek H.T. , Cicmil Svetlana , Thomas Janice , Anbari Frank , Bredillet Christophe
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide of a review of the theory and models underlying project management (PM) research degrees that encourage reflective learning.

Design/methodology/approach

Review of the literature and reflection on the practice of being actively involved in conducting and supervising academic research and disseminating academic output. The paper argues the case for the potential usefulness of reflective academic research to PM practitioners. It also highlights theoretical drivers of and barriers to reflective academic research by PM practitioners.

Findings

A reflective learning approach to research can drive practical results though it requires a great deal of commitment and support by both academic and industry partners.

Practical implications

This paper suggests how PM practitioners can engage in academic research that has practical outcomes and how to be more effective at disseminating these research outcomes.

Originality/value

Advanced academic degrees, in particular those completed by PM practitioners, can validate a valuable source of innovative ideas and approaches that should be more quickly absorbed into the PM profession's sources of knowledge. The value of this paper is to critically review and facilitate a reduced adaptation time for implementation of useful reflective academic research to industry.
Emotional intelligence and occupational stress among professional staff in New Zealand
Authors: King Michelle , Gardner Dianne
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The aim of the study was to test the relationship of emotional intelligence (EI) to the appraisal, coping and outcomes of workplace demands.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was used to collect data. Respondents included 157 professional staff including salaried staff, line managers, senior managers, managing directors and chief executive officers.

Findings

Emotional intelligence was found to comprise three factors: emotional self management (ESM), the ability to understand others' emotions (UOE) and the use of emotions in decision making.

Research limitations/implications

The study employed a cross‐sectional self‐report design from which it is not possible to infer causal relationships among variables. The sample comprised professionals employed within New Zealand and it remains to be seen whether the findings can be replicated in other organizational and occupational groups and in other countries and cultures.

Practical implications

Emotional self management and understanding others' emotions appear to play an important role in managing work‐related stress. Current research supports the notion that EI is learned and can be developed. If this is confirmed then there may be justification for developing an individual's ability to manage emotional reactions to stressful situations in order to reduce negative affective outcomes.

Originality/value

Aspects of EI are relevant to work‐related stress in that appropriate skills in managing emotional reactions may help to build adaptive responses to work‐related demands.
Western Problems — Eastern Solutions:Mixed Promise of Quality Circles
Authors: Wolff Paul J.
Published: February 2008

Many 1980s western managers, stressed by global changes in resource costs, competitive pressures, and technological imperatives, strive to emulate Japanese management models and practices, such as Quality Circles (QCs). The implementation and cultural‐motivational barriers to an effective QC intervention, such as differing Japanese versus western administrative practices and group processes are examined. In Japan QCs are an integral part of structure, process and strategy; in the west they represent a new, untried adjunct to structure requiring new roles in addition to changed decision making authority patterns. Reasons for mixed western QC outcomes are examined, as is their potential for promoting innovation.
An Analysis of Needs and a System of Development for an Employee Assistance Programme
Authors: Munchus George
Published: February 2008

Personal problems of employees impair their productivity. These may be family, emotional, alcohol or other drugs, or just living problems. Employee assistance is an action‐oriented programme designed to recognise symptoms of problem employees before they become costly to the employee as well as to the company. Several studies are reviewed, those by government, as well as many private agencies, concerning the effectiveness of establishing employee assistance programmes as opposed to firing and replacing employees who have personal problems that may impair their productivity and performance.
Experiences of Innovation at Work
Authors: King Nigel , West Michael A.
Published: February 2008

There is a need for individual‐level research into innovation, which departs from the traditions of mainstream creativity research. A working definition is given which enables innovation to be distinguished from creativity, and a qualitative study, examining individual experiences of innovation, is described. Unstructured interviews were carried out with 27 people in managerial or professional jobs, eliciting descriptive accounts of individual experiences of innovation at work. Transcripts of these interviews were content‐analysed, and the findings are discussed here under three headings: facilitators and inhibitors of innovation, reactions to innovations, and strategies for the management of innovation. Implications are drawn for future research in this area.
Career Development in a Changing Environment
Authors: Laser Stephen A.
Published: February 2008

External consultants play a special role in helping organisations solve problems. The intervention described was in response to the turmoil occurring within a large telecommunications firm following major organisational restructuring. To prevent a large‐scale loss of high‐potential managers and long‐term supervisors, a firm of consultants was called in. A workshop was designed which would permit participants to identify their strengths as well as their developmental needs. The programme is described, and its successes and shortcomings assessed.
Redundancy Counselling for Those Still in Employment
Authors: Lane David A.
Published: February 2008

Those left behind after a company has been reorganised and others have been made redundant may need counselling; survivors can feel guilty especially when feeling concern about how redundancies are handled. They may experience a sense of loss, a sense of realism and a sense of being ill‐equipped as a company to meet the complexity involved in implementing a support scheme. Key personnel may even leave. Management of transition states requires care and a sense of mission.
Gender‐specific Factors in Management Promotion
Authors: Gold Una O'C. , Pringle Judith K.
Published: February 2008

An Australian study interviewed 50 women and men middle and senior managers about the factors they perceived as important in their promotion in management. A major finding was the similarity between the profiles of female and male managers although female managers averaged fewer promotions. Helping factors, perceived similarly by both female and male managers were: coaching by others, past training and experience, personal skill and positive work attitudes. Male managers mentioned luck as a factor in promotion more than the female managers. “Having a career plan” was not an important factor and few of the managers had firm plans for the next five years. Greater variability was found in the factors perceived to hinder promotional progress. The findings are discussed considering the popular advice offered to emergent managers by self‐help books, researchers and consultants.
Positive Action for Female Executives
Authors: Cooper Cary L.
Published: February 2008

Hilary is a 28 year old middle manager in the Civil Service. Below she describes her personal experience of, and expresses her views on, being a woman in management:
Women Managers: the Present and the Future
Authors: Davidson Marilyn J.
Published: February 2008

Despite the recession, unemployment and subtle political moves to keep them out of the work‐force, more women are working than ever before. Throughout Europe, however, there is still job segregation based on gender—the arbitrary division between ‘men's jobs’ and ‘women's jobs’, which is often taken for granted. In all EEC countries over 50% of women are employed in the services sector, which includes retail, trade, education, health care and clerical duties. Approximately 20–25% of women workers are employed in the textile and food industries, and large numbers in the chemical and electronics industries. Women's advance into what have been traditionally men's jobs is still very small. In the UK, for instance, the Economic Activity Tables of the 1981 Census—published in 1984—reveal seven occupation orders, in which women were outnumbered by men by more than ten to one: professional and related in science, engineering and technology; managerial; security and protective services; processing, metals and electrical; construction and mining; transport and storage; miscellaneous. The groupings accounted for a mere 19% of the entire female work‐force both in 1971 and 1981. No inroads had been made.
Women in Management: The Government's Role
Authors: Butcher John
Published: February 2008

At the conference—Working Women: Paths to Power, organized by the Institute of Directors and Working Woman magazine, the Under Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry—John Butcher MP—explained what the Government is doing for women, and described the work shadowing scheme, through which sixth‐form girls have followed top women execu‐tives for a working week.
Women's Groups: Who Are They For?
Authors: Baines Alison
Published: February 2008

Responses to the Gallup poll on support for the women's movement, reported in the last issue, reflected women's ambivalence to women's organizations compared with men's less equivocal support.
Non‐Executive Directorships — A Message to the Chairmen
Authors: Novarra Virginia
Published: February 2008

This article represents the fruits of my investigations over the last year and a half into the hows and whys of appointments to non‐executive directorships. As with public appointments, it is obvious that having one's name on computerized talent banks does not necessarily lead to the desired appointment, or indeed to any appointment at all. Where non‐executive directors are increasingly sought after and difficult to find, expanding the search to the majority of the population (women) makes sense both for boards and for women themselves.
From Executive to Entrepreneur—a World of Difference
Authors: Joyce Nicky
Published: February 2008

The international organization of which BAWE is a part is called Les Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises Mondiales, and the membership reflects the word ‘enterprise’ in their national titles. To be an executive does not necessarily imply entrepreneurship, but the common denominator of BAWE members is that they all have money at risk in their businesses. British President Eugenie Maxwell commented recently: ‘Now is a particularly exciting time for us. Our change of title to include “entrepreneurs” brings us into line with our colleagues all over the world where the word is immediately understood as meaning people creatively engaged in business and not merely administering. Nearer home, another advantage is that “entrepreneur” is very much the word of the moment’.
Women meaning business
Authors: Novaković Ana
Published: February 2008

What's different about women who run their own businesses? And what made them want to strike out on their own? Ana Novaković talked to some women entrepreneurs to find out what inspired them and keeps them going.
All managers under the skin: how women can learn to act like successful managers without losing their own identities
Authors: Gaister David
Published: February 2008

One of the challenges to women entering management today is that the role models available to them are predominantly male. Just as an Englishman learning, say, Italian solely from an Italian woman would acquire the mannerisms and behaviour patterns of an Italian woman, so what women managers learn is inappropriate for their role in society. Learning by a kind of osmosis from role models is not only time‐consuming, but usually means that all the behaviour displayed is copied—whether or not it is relevant or of value.
Sexual politics for men
Authors: Gurden Helen , Hardman Jill
Published: February 2008

“Have we facilitated even more male bonding, or provided a certificate of anti‐sexism?” Helen Gurden and Jill Hardman ask themselves about the Sexual Politics for Men course in Coventry they have set up. The men they have tutored seem to suggest not. Helen is a Community Tutor in Coventry and Jill is a TUC Tutor.
What do women's groups offer?
Authors: Tomlinson Frances
Published: February 2008

What are UK women's groups like? Who do they appeal to? How do they compare with each other?
Do women use different influences?
Authors: Vilkinas Tricia
Published: February 2008

This study builds on an earlier one published in Women in Management Review Vol 2 No 3, that investigated the power bases that women use to influence their subordinates. The current investigation was undertaken to determine whether men differed from women in how they exert influence on their staff. There is a general lack of research comparing how male and female supervisors influence their subordinates, but it is needed to establish whether men and women differ when they hold managerial positions.
Understanding and Coping with the Fear of Success
Authors: Vanucci Tricia , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: February 2008

The concept of Fear of Success is defined and its correlates identified. The role of family interactions and culture in the development of Fear and Success is also examined. Methods of coping with Fear of Success in terms of both the individual and the organisation are discussed.
INFORMATION PROCESSING AND MIND—BRAIN IDENTITY
Authors: SAYRE K.M.
Published: February 2008

The thesis that conscious states are processes in the brain that can be described in terms of the physical sciences is criticized as being scientifically implausible in several respects. A modified version of this thesis is proposed according to which conscious states are processes of the organism's central information‐processing system, by which it is enabled to maintain flexible control over its behavior in a changing perceptual environment. Description of these processes requires the categories of cybernetics, specifically those of information and of negative feedback.
THE ROLE OF CYBERNETICS IN THE PROGNOSIS OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROMANIA
Authors: MANESCU MANEA
Published: February 2008

The paper is based on the idea that management of a national economy is a complex cybernetic system. By considering the Romanian economy the author postulates that the relations between socio‐economic macro‐systems should be expressed in terms of national income. On the basis of the model thus established future developments in various macro‐systems are predicted, e.g. in production, technology, population, labour force, etc. The author then describes a system for the prognosis of social and economic developments in Romania up to the year 2000. In order to achieve this object a Control Commission for Prognosis has been established under the chairmanship of Mr. Nicolae Ceauşescu, the President of Romania.
THE PHYSICO‐MATHEMATICAL SUBSTRATA OF BIOLOGIC RELATIVITY
Authors: LLAURADO JOSEP G.
Published: February 2008

Primordial pattern is the name given by Grigg to the curve representing the response of many biologic systems to a single stimulus. This curve consists of a fast ascent and a lingering descent. The equation had been chosen empirically to describe the primordial pattern. This equation taken in isolation does not reveal its close interconnection with the physical world. In this paper it is seen as one of the solutions of a second‐order damped system representable by the differential equation with zero initial displacement but some initial velocity. Such a system involves contributing responses by components of threekinds: inertial, restoring and resistive. This observation should stimulate scientists to extract these different components from any biologic response. The resistive component is a term proportional to the first derivative of the response with respect to time. Evidence for the necessity of this frictional component to obtain a primordial pattern is presented. Such frictional component imparts to a process an irreversible character in agreement with Poincarés thermodynamic formulation and provides the physico‐mathematical substrata to the concept of biologic relativity, namely: as the primordial pattern runs its course, there occurs an incessant change, not only in the recorded response, but also in the respondent's reactivity. This paper offers a unifying view of biology and physics. It should be the task of biologists henceforth to try to find the pertinent analogies with inertial, restoring and resistive components of biologic entities and responses. As an example, consider the fact that the primordial pattern requires of necessity the existence of frictional elements within the system. It will be of great interest to look into these elements and try to identify them. Then, perhaps, they could be manipulated from outside the system to increase or diminish them for mankind's advantage.
PROBABILITY OF STABILITY OF LINEAR DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS
Authors: PORTER B. , CROSSLEY T.R.
Published: February 2008

In this paper, certain theoretical results due to Porter concerning the probability of stability of a class of linear dynamical systems are generalized significantly. These results are compared with the theoretical results obtained by Porter and also with certain empirical results obtained by Ashby.
ECG/LAB: A MERGER OF TWO SYSTEMS ON A MINI‐MIDI COMPUTER COMPLEX
Authors: SCHEINOK PERRY A. , SHRAGER PAUL
Published: February 2008

Two major computerized systems, ECG and Clinical Chemistry, have been meshed on an 1BM‐1800/System/7 tandem combination. The System/7 computer serves as (1) an analog‐to‐digital device acquiring both ECG data from 3‐channel data acquisition carts over telephone lines, and laboratory data from autoanalyzers over direct cabling; and (2) a communications concentrator controlling a network of interactive video display units and printers in both the Clinical Chemistry and the ECG Laboratories via asynchronous and synchronous multiplexers. An operating system has been written for the System/7 which handles all I/O from external devices and communicates to the 1BM‐1800 over a direct memory access channel at the rate of 105 words per second. The meshing of the systems has a synergistic effect which makes the system extremely powerful at an economic price level.
A GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY FOR STUDIES IN CYBERNETICS AND AUTOMATION—PART I
Authors: KOENIG ELDO C.
Published: February 2008

Artificial automata replace, in part or in total, natural automata in systems, and properly disciplined models of natural automata become design models of artificial automata for replacement. In Part I, a summary of two sets of disciplines provided by a General Systems Theory is presented, and the importance of these disciplines to the modeling of three inherited abilities is indicated for a case study. A theorem is presented in the form of an algorithm to aid in the modeling of the ability to modify and extend knowledge structures. In Part II (appearing in the next issue), the proof of the theorem is given and the theorem is applied to the case study. Finally, the application of the disciplines of the General Systems Theory is indicated for a second casestudy of an industrial system of 10 interactive automata.
INFORMATION THEORY AND THE MEASUREMENT OF DETECTIVE PERFORMANCE
Authors: WILLMER M.A.P.
Published: February 2008

The traditional measure of detective performance is the clear‐up rate. Though this has the merit of being easy to calculate, it is not without certain disadvantages. At present, a detective may take great pains with work generally considered to be of a high standard only to find that his efforts are reflected by no change in the clear‐up rate—or even by a decrease in the clear‐up rate. This paper shows how concepts drawn from information theory may be used as the basis of a measure that does not suffer from such inconsistencies.
TOWARDS THE GENERAL THEORY OF CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS
Authors: CHAVCHANIDZE V.V.
Published: February 2008

A general theory of conceptual systems (GCST) is developed, in which the concept of systems is introduced not a priori or theoretically, but by means of a rigorous procedure, supported by experimental knowledge of these or other system realization forms (so‐called “realization” and “trajectories”). This is the stage of an inductive construction of computable concepts, i.e. “concepts”. “Concept” is presented in the form of a function of discrete variables, one part of which is known (essential variables), while the other part is independent (non‐essential variables). The presence of “concept” allows one to construct new, not yet realized “trajectories”. This is the stage of the deductive conclusion. The general principles of GCST construction on the basis of an artificial intelligence program system are formulated. This approach excludes widespread methods of a priori construction of system theories (e.g. in the “theory of usefulness”, the “study of operations”).
ON ANTICIPATORY SYSTEMS AND EXTENSIONS OF LOCAL MODELS
Authors: ENGEL A.B.
Published: February 2008

The classical idea of model, as a system that can anticipate, in a finite time interval, the full behavior of a real system, is shown to lead to serious contradictions. An alternate formalism is proposed, in which only general features of the real system can be projected. From this new formalism, optimal experiments on the real system are derived. A discussion of the problem of uniqueness in modelling theory is included. As an area in which the classical idea of model is applicable without contradictions, anticipatory systems are analyzed. Some general features of these systems are considered. Finally, the projective system of an anticipatory system is fully described in terms of the state system.
FUZZY SYSTEMS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Authors: NEGOITA C.V. , RALESCU D.A.
Published: February 2008

Many concepts of problem solving theory are better understood in an abstract algebraic framework which also applies in automata theory. Because many systems of practical interest fall outside the scope of linear theory, it is desirable to enlarge as much as possible the class of systems for which a complete structure theory is available. The fuzzy system approach is presented as a basis for the design of systems far superior in artificial intelligence to those we can conceive today. The concepts of controllability, observability and minimality are developed, and conditions for the realization of an input‐output map by such a system are given. Several problems, all directly or indirectly related to fuzzification, arise in considering this broader class of systems.
COMPLEXITY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN DYNAMIC SYSTEMS
Authors: GOTTINGER HANS W.
Published: February 2008

Complexity is worth studying as a subject for its own sake. We intend to investigate complexity in the context of a fairly broad class of dynamical systems (known as sequential machines). A sequential machine is a perfectly good model of an organization (or organism) which strives for survival, acting under resource and time constraints. For a given complexity level of the system design we could find the level of contact indicating—roughly—the level of understanding of the system transformation. We call this the control complexity. The “information technology” is generated by the lattice of partitions of the state space of the system realized by a serial‐parallel decomposition into component systems.
EXISTENCE THEORY FOR STOCHASTIC OPTIMAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
Authors: NICHOLS W.G. , TSOKOS CHRIS P.
Published: February 2008

The aim of the present paper is to present certain existence theorems for stochastic control systems whose state variables, χ(t;ω), are continuous functions from the set R+ = {t;t ≥ 0} into the space L2(Ω, A, μ). That is, for each t R+, χ(t;ω) is a vector‐valued random variable whose second absolute moment exists. U = μ(t), the admissible controls, are taken as measurable functions of t only. It is assumed that the initial time is fixed but allow the terminal time tf(ω) to vary with ω∈Ω. The usual space constraints and boundary conditions are also allowed to vary with ω∈Ω. The cost functional is taken to be a continuous functional over a suitable class of continuous functions.
HELPING EACH OTHER TO HELP THE HELPLESS:
Authors: REVANS R.W.
Published: February 2008

This essay, published in two parts, describes coordination in the British domiciliary services for the mentally handicapped, as seen by families helped and by field workers helping. Criteria of need and judgments of effectiveness are those of patients and field workers. Bias is minimized by the experimental design since five independent professions and parents interact between seven different areas over a sample of 212 cases. Part I suggests why and how this autonomous or self‐study was made; Part II presents some findings and tells what was done about them.
TOWARD A SYSTEM MODEL OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION
Authors: SCHULTZ LOUISE
Published: February 2008

A conceptual model of a minimum set of subsystems contributing to the total system of human communication is hypothesized in which are identified four “domains”: a referent world, a formulator, an interpreter, and signs. The usefulness of the model relies on its apparent independence from metaphysical conflicts.