bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urethral pressure reflectometry vs urethral pressure profilometry in women: a comparative study of reproducibility and accuracy
Authors: Klarskov Niels , Lose Gunnar
Published: May 2007

OBJECTIVE

To compare urethral pressure reflectometry (UPR), a new and simple technique for simultaneous measurements of cross‐sectional area (CA) and pressure in the female urethra, with urethral pressure profilometry (UPP).

PATIENTS, SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The study included 143 women (105 patients and 38 healthy volunteers); the UPR was measured using a very thin polyurethane bag in the urethra; a pump applied pre‐selected pressures stepwise to the bag and for each step the CA was measured by acoustic reflectometry. Measurements were made during both inflation and deflation. The women were examined supine both while relaxed and during ‘squeeze’, and while upright and relaxed. The following variables were measured; the opening and closing pressure, the opening and closing elastance and the hysteresis. For UPP we used the perfusion technique with the patient supine and relaxed. All the women were assessed twice with both UPR and UPP at the same setting (short‐term reproducibility) and 17 patients were assessed with both methods on two different days (long‐term reproducibility).

RESULTS

The mean pressures were 51.7 and 52.9 cmH2O for the UPR and UPP, respectively (not significant) at a CA of 5.1 mm2; the limit of agreement between the methods was −19.4 to +17.0 cmH2O (mean and 2 sd). The Pearson coefficient was − 0.16 (not significant). The variability (2 sd) of two consecutive measurements was significantly less with UPR (9.5 cmH2O) than UPP (13.8 cmH2O; P < 0.001). For the opening and closing pressures the coefficient of variation (CV) was 5.9–11.6%; for the elastances the CV was 14.3–31.2% and for the hysteresis the CV was 12.9–49.1%. In test‐retest measurements, the variability of the UPR values (2 sd, 8.7 cmH2O) was significantly less than for UPP (15.4 cmH2O; P < 0.05). The discomfort of UPR was statistically less than for UPP or than a standard gynaecological examination.

CONCLUSION

Compared at the same CA, UPR measured the same pressure as UPP but the UPR was more reproducible. With the patient relaxed the opening and closing pressure, opening and closing elastance and the hysteresis can be measured while supine and upright; while squeezing, the opening pressure and elastance can be measured.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM A THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT?
Authors: Leibenstein Harvey
Published: May 2007

Prediction as a rejection test for theories is limited and unnecessarily severe. Useful knowledge frequently does not fall into this mold. Also the prediction test does not follow from the view that science provides coherent explanations of experience. The inapplicability of prediction as a sharp test is especially likely to be true for macro‐economic development theories. Thus it may not be meaningful to say that a given theory is correct or incorrect in a strict sense. Where the phe‐nomena that a theory covers is inseparable from a large system in which it is imbedded then it may be impossible in principle to discover the true relations between variables. Although no single simple test may exist for a class of theories there may be a number of considerations that help us judge the adequacy of some theories.

Development theories may be looked upon as sets of partially connected sample relations that operate within a changing environment. Such relations should be credible. Sample relations based on hypotheses that constantly flout experience are likely to be poor samples. Thus the realism of assumptions matter. Theories of the type considered may be useful in that the sample relations are helpful in the discovery of specific relations in specific contexts that we hope will work frequently in a loose fitting servo‐mechanistic type of arrangement so that (1) diagnoses of existing difficulties can be made, and (2) corrective policies fashioned which, while they cannot be expected to work universally, do work sufficiently frequently in terms of directional changes to be of interest.
ECONOMIC POLICIES IN A DEMOCRACY
Authors: Bernholz Peter
Published: May 2007

Assumptions concerning the political behaviour of voters and politicians have first been made by A. Downs. Using these assumptions and considering several structural characteristics of democracy, the author of this paper attempts to develop some tendencies of economic policy. Since these tendencies are not only subject to the political but also to the economic situation of the country in question, additional assumptions upon the structure of economy have to be made. The present paper deals with a growing economy; it is assumed to work on a high level of diversification and consumption. Some sectors expand however only slowly, others even decline. Given these assumptions, the governmental economic policy will favour I. sectors with low rates of growth, and 2. sectors with low capital/ employment ratios. There exist, however, priorities about the measures to be taken: Import restriction is preferred to export promotion, export promotion to a policy of public buying and storing; even less estimated are public subsidies (provided costs of storing can be neglected and/or elasticities of demand and supply are low). The paper finally shows, how the tendencies of economic policy vary by changing political and economic structures of democracy.
EXPORT INSTABILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH*
Authors: Kenen Peter B. , Voivodas Constantine S.
Published: May 2007

Does export instability interfere with economic development? Work by McBean answers in the negative. He finds no systematic relationship between instability and economic growth. This paper asks three questions about McBean's work: (1) Has he measured the relevant variables appropriately? (2) Were special factors at work in the period he studied (1950‐58) ? (3) Was his sample of countries representative? It presents a broader statistical analysis, using a different index of instability, two decades of data, and more countries. In general, the findings do not contradict McBean. But calculations using different time periods (1950‐66 and 1956‐67) do produce some evidence of interference. Furthermore, the paper finds one new relationship—a strong inverse connection between instability and the level of investment in developing countries.
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE: THE NEED FOR A COMPLETE STUDY OF HAPPINESS
Authors: Ng* Yew‐Kwang
Published: May 2007

Does economic growth increase social welfare (happiness)? Answers to such questions can only be provided by a complete analysis of all the objective, subjective, and institutional effects. All measures originate from the subjective world, working through the institutional setting to affect the objective world, the institutional setting and/or the subjective world. Due to the increasing complexity of the modern society, it is likely that more problems are going to involve significant institutional and subjective effects, making a complete multidisciplinary study more necessary. As an introduction to this argument, the Harrod‐Hirsch concept of positional goods and its implications on the desirability of economic growth are analysed geometrically and extended. A simple method to reduce the difficulty of comparability in happiness surveys is also suggested.
ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF PROTECTION AGAINST MARKET DISRUPTION
Authors: Murray, Tracy , Schmidt Wilson , Walter* Ingo
Published: May 2007

Voluntary export restraints (VRSs) and orderly marketing arrangements (OMAs) are increasingly important relative to explicit trade restrictions such as tariffs and quotas. Unlike the latter, which are applied by the importing countries, VERs and OMAs as protectionist techniques are implemented under duress by the exporting nations themselves. They are part of a growing ‘rifle approach’ to protection designed to curb imports specifically from ‘disruptive’ supplier countries. Textiles, footwear, consumer electronics and steel are some of the product groups affected in recent years, with Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Brazil, Taiwan and Singapore among the main victims. In 1976 an estimated $ 9.4 billion of international trade was covered by such restrictions, or about 16% of OECD imports in the affected product categories. It is often alleged that such ‘voluntary’ controls are less trade‐restrictive than outright quotas imposed on imports. This paper shows that, in the event that export licences are themselves tradeable and subject to monopolization ‐ which is often the case – precisely the opposite will tend to be the case. Even greater restrictiveness may occur when multiple products are covered by a single OMA or VER.
TOWARDS FULL EMPLOYMENT AND PRICE STABILITY: A REVIEW OF THE OECD REPORT
Authors: Cornwall* John
Published: May 2007

The article reviews a recent OECD attempt to explain the causes of the acceleration of inflation from the mid‐1960's to the early 1970's and the impact of government policy responses i.e., stagflation. The report is optimistic about the future growth, employment and inflation performance of the OECD economies. This optimum is criticised for several reasons. While most of the factors as causes of the acceleration in inflation are non‐economic, the chief policy measures advocated for a return to ‘normally’ are economic, i.e., demand management. No evidence is offered that the (largely) non‐economic structural changes that contributed to the acceleration of inflation have disappeared and are therefore unlikely to reassert themselves if and when governments decide to push for full employment. The future is just as likely to be one of continued stagflation or a permanent incomes policy as it is a return to pre‐1970 conditions.
CYCLICAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THE SHARE OF CORPORATE PROFITS IN NATIONAL INCOME
Authors: Brown Scott B.
Published: May 2007

This paper investigates some of the determinants of the decline in corporate profits as a share of national income in six industrial countries. First, it presents evidence that much of the decline in the profits share has resulted from changes in the distribution of gross profits among dividends, interest, and retained earnings, apparently due to rising corporate debt/equity ratios. Second, the paper examines the cyclical behavior of the gross profits share. Estimates of the normal cyclical behavior of profits shares suggest that much of the recent decline in profits shares is a normal response to weak economic activity. Finally, the techniques used to estimate cyclically normal profits shares suggest that in most of these countries the profits share has been below its full‐employment level during the 1970's.
STANDARDS UND STEUERN ALS INSTRUMENTE GEGEN DIE VERSCHMUTZUNG DER UMWELT
Authors: Osterkamp Rigmar
Published: May 2007

In der Literatur zur Umweltökonomie werden zahlreiche Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Instrumenten Standards and Steuern behauptet; so etwa bezüglich der statischen and dynamischen Eflizienz, der Überwachungskosten, der Sicherheit der Reaktion auf ein eingesetztes umweltpolitisches Instrument usw. Einigedieser Unterschiede werden hier kritisch analysiert. Das Ergebnis ist, dass häufig (ausser im Fall der bekannten statischen allokativen Ineffizienz von Standards) unzulässige Vergleiche angestellt werden and die Unterschiede bei korrekter Analyse verschwinden. Aberes wird auch eine Situation beschrieben, in der sich Standards and Steuern tatsächlich voneinander unterscheiden and in der die Wahl des richtigen Instruments wichtig ist.
Rent Seeking in India: Its Costs and Policy Significance
Authors: Mohammad Sharif , Whalley John
Published: May 2007

In this paper we assess the resource cost of rent seeking activity in India, taking into account controls over foreign trade, capital markets, goods and labour markets. Using the approximation that the value of rents equals the welfare cost of rent seeking, gives a range from 30‐45 percent of GNP using data for 1980‐81. Some of the wider implications for the measurement of the welfare costs of distortions are discussed. The main development policy issues raised by the calculations are also outlined.
Economic Integration and Intra‐Industry Trade: The EEC and CMEA Compared
Authors: Drabek Zdenek , Greenaway David
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the causal links between intra‐industry trade and economic integration, and considers whether these can be expected to differ systematically between customs unions involving developed market economies and those involving centrally planned economies. Intra‐industry trade is measured for members of the E. E. C. and compared with indices for various members of CMEA (as well as several non‐E. E. C. European countries). It is found that average levels of intra‐industry trade are indeed higher for E. E. C. countries and various explantations for this finding are discussed.
Zur empirischen Evidenz ≫langer Wellen≪
Authors: Metz Rainer
Published: May 2007

Die Frage der Realität ≪langer Wellen≫ in der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts ist bis heute umstritten. Nicht selten wird das Vorhandensein dieser sogenannten KONDRATIEFF‐Zyklen zwar für Wertreihen bejaht, für Produktionsreihen dagegen verneint. Mit Hilfe neuer statistischer Verfahren der Zeitreihenanalyse, die auf der Filtertheorie basieren, kann man zeigen, dass für eine gegenstandsneutrale Untersuchung dieser Frage das traditionelle Instrumentarium der Zeitreihenanalyse völlig ungeeignet ist. Das Grundproblem jeder statistischen Analyse ≪langer Wellen≫, nämlich Bestimmung und Ausschaltung des Trend als der nicht‐zyklischen Bewegungskomponente einer Zeitreihe, wird in diesem Artikel mit einem völlig neu entwickelten Filterverfahren gelöst. Die Ergebnisse zeigen sehr deutlich sowohl die fundamentale Bedingtheit von Trend und Zyklus, als auch das Vorhandensein langfristiger zyklischer Schwingungskomponenten in Produktionsreihen. Während die Ergebnisse die gängige Datierung der KONDRATIEFF‐Zyklen bis etwa 1913 annähernd bestätigen, zeigen die Zyklen in ihrem gesamten Verlauf starke Variationen in Form und Dauer und erfordern damit eine partielle Revision tradierter Vorstellungen.
Die Bedeutung des Accelerated Cost Recovery System für den internationalen Kapitalverkehr
Authors: Sinn Hans‐Werner
Published: May 2007

The paper studies the impact on international capital movements of the accelerated tax depreciation scheme introduced in the U. S. A. under the REAGAN administration. It is argued on theoretical grounds that, contrary to most other potential tax reforms, this depreciation scheme calls for a substantial restructuring in the world‐wide capital stock in favor of the U. S. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the scheme may induce severe sectoral changes within national economies. Countries that do not take countervailing actions against the U. S. policy are likely to experience a rise in their labour intensive industries at the expense of losing their capital intensive industries. A tentative estimate based on stylized economic facts indicates the necessity of a capital import into the U. S. of at least 7% of the OECD capital stock, which means that even with a doubling of the 1983 U. S. current account deficit of $40 billion more than a decade would have to pass in order for the required structural changes to be accomplished.
On Expectations Formation when Future Welfare is Contemplated
Authors: RAVALLION MARTIN
Published: May 2007

People often seem to gain present satisfaction from contemplating a favourable future. This paper examines the implications of such behaviour for expectations formation. Formally, satisfaction is said to be derived from ‘contemplation’ whenever ex post utility depends on expectations independently of their bearing on ex ante actions. Contemplation is shown to be necessary and sufficient for informationally biased forecasting in a model of the intertemporal consumption decision. Thus the MUTH‐rationality of expectations requires restrictions on the (derived) preference ordering over expectations and realizations which preclude contemplation. Bias tests of surveyed expectations are given a choice‐theoretic interpretation.
Political Business Cycles in Industrialized Democratic Countries
Authors: SOH BYUNG HEE
Published: May 2007

An examination of the rates of income growth, inflation, and unemployment in twenty industrialized democratic countries reveals evidence of political business cycles. The money supply and government expenditures tend to show expansions near elections. Political business cycles are not readily detected in the countries with more extensive indexation or longer electoral terms.

Eine Untersuchung des Einkommenswachstums und der Inflations‐ und Arbeits‐losenrate in zwanzig industrialisierten demokratischen Lándern deutet auf politische Konjunkturzyklen hin. Geldvolumen und Regierungsausgaben neigen dazu, vor den Wahlen anzusteigen. Politische Konjunkturzyklen sind in den Lándern mit Teue‐rungsausgleich oder lángerer politischer Amtsdauer nicht so deutlich festzustellen.

L'étude des taux de croissance du revenu, de l'inflation et du chômage dans vingt pays démocratiques industrialisés révèle l'existence de cycles dans l'économie politique de ces pays. La masse monétaire et les dépenses publiques ont tendance à s'accroître à l'approche des périodes électorates. Les cycles de l'économie politique ne sont pas aisément décelés dans les pays à indexation plus étendue ou à mandats électoraux plus longs.
Freedom, Property Rights and Innovation in Socialism*
Authors: PEJOVICH** STEVE
Published: May 2007

The central issue in this paper is the effect of alternative property rights on the flow of innovation. The basis for this issue arises from the fact that people prefera wider range of choices to a narrow one. The analysis is broken down into: the freedom to innovate, the power to innovate, the incentives to innovate, the implementation of innovation, and the evaluation of innovation. The line of reasoning in the paper is exampled by reference to the Yugoslav economy. The paper concludes that an essential problem of economic development is the freedom to search for and adopt a set of social institutions within which opportunities and incentives for innovation are enhanced. Specifically, labor participation in management collectivizes innovation, a purely individual phenomenon, and alienates the innovator from its outcome. In comparison with a private‐property, free‐market economy, self‐management reduces the number of potential innovators, their power to innovate, and incentives to innovate.
On Thoughtless Rationality (Rules‐of‐Thumb)
Authors: ETZIONI AMITAI
Published: May 2007

The recognition of the existence of imperfect information in decision‐making and the cognitive limitations of the human mind put various assumptions of the neoclassical economic paradigm in doubt. Neoclassical economists responded by arguing that decision rules, or rules of thumb, can be used to render decision without processing information. Further, neoclassicists have suggested that rational rules compete against and drive out irrational ones. This paper focuses on the use of rules of thumb and posits that the empirical evidence about the rationality of these rules is dubious and that they logicallycannotserve as a basis for rational conduct.
Cooperating Adversaries
Authors: STARK ODED
Published: May 2007

In this paper we argue that mutual altruism might explain why workers and a firm move from low‐productivity adversarial point(s) to high‐productivity cooperative point(s). The unique critical level of such altruism is identified and hence a stopping rule is provided: The mutual altruism solution to an otherwise prisoner's dilemma equilibrium depends on representing an agent's (workers, firm) preferences as a specific convex combination of his and the other agent's original utilities. The move to the cooperative point(s) is facilitated by revision of the utility functions and a consequent change in the payoffs. This, in turn, is brought about through intrafirm processes such as furnishing employees with superior compensation packages as well as through an interfirm process ‐ drawing lessons from ‘shocks’ ‐ the experience of firms which, as they were locked in low productivity equilibrium points, were weeded out.
Disaster‐Prone Technologies, Environmental Risks, and Profit Maximization
Authors: ENGLAND RICHARD W.
Published: May 2007

This paper presents a model of short‐run profit maximization by an industrial firm utilizing a disaster‐prone technology. The firm's decisions about output rate and accident prevention activities are shown to be jointly determined by market demand, production cost and prospective accident loss data. Various institutional reasons are given for believing that, in the absence of government safety regulations, even a risk‐neutral management is likely to choose an excessively high probability of a Bhopal‐style disaster.

In diesem Beitrag wird ein Modell der kurzfristigen Gewinnmaximierung für Indu‐strieunternehmungen entwickelt, deren Technologie die Gefahr von Katastrophen birgt. Die Entscheidungen der Unternehmung hinsichtiich Produktion und Unfall‐vorbeugung werden bestimmt durch Nachfrage, Produktionskosten und erwartete Folgekosten von Unfällen. Aus verschiedensten institutionellen Gründen dürfte sogar ein risikoneutrales Management ‐ bei Absenz staatlicher Sicherheitsvorschrif‐ten ‐ dazu neigen, eine aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht zu hohe Wahrscheinlichkeit einer bhopalartigen Katastrophe zu wählen.

Cet article présente un modèle de maximisation du profit pour une entreprise industrielle qui met en ceuvre une technologie à très hauts risques. Les auteurs montrent que les décisions de l'entreprise concernant le taux de production et les activités de prévention des accidents sont déterminées conjointement par la demande du marché, les cou̧ts de production et les données prospectives de pertes d'exploitation consécutives aux accidents.

Cet article fournit différents raisons institutionnelles pour penser qu'en l'absence de règlementations officielles de la sécurité, une direction d'entreprise neutre envers le risque choisira vraisemblablement une probabilityé extrèmement élevée vis‐à‐vis d'un désastre du style de celui de Bhopal.
Currency Competition in Switzerland, 1826‐1850
Authors: WEBER ERNST JUERG
Published: May 2007

Currency competition provided a stable monetary standard in those Swiss cantons that deregulated their financial systems after liberal revolutions in the 1830s and 40s. The Swiss currency issuers’ concern with purchasing power stability suggests that each of them faced a real demand for notes that was sensitive to expected changes in the purchasing power of those notes. Given purchasing power stability, the circulation of a currency depended on the quality of the financial services of its issuer. Issuing and keeping notes in circulation was costly. The share of notes in the balance sheets of their issuers was therefore small except in periods when interest rates on other debt instruments were high.

Freie Konkurrenz zwischen Währungen garantierte monetäre Stabilität in jenen Schweizer Kantonen, die nach liberalen Revolutionen zwischen 1830 und 1850 ihr Währungssystem reformierten. Die Beachtung, die die schweizerischen Notenprodu‐zenten der Kaufkraftstabilität schenkten, legt nahe, dass die reale Banknotennach‐frage von der erwarteten Kaufkraftveränderung abhing. Bei gegebener Kaufkraft ist die Zirkulation einer Währung durch die Qualität der finanziellen Dienstleistungen ihres Anbieters bestimmt. Die Ausgabe von Banknoten verursacht Kosten, und es ist teuer, sie im Verkehr zu halten. Daher war der Anteil von Banknoten in der Bilanz ihrer Anbieter gering, ausser in Zeiten, in denen der Zins auf anderen Finanzierungs‐instrumenten hoch war.

La concurrence monétaire libre eut comme résultat une stabilityé monétaire pour les cantons suisses qui avaient réformé leurs systèmes monétaires après les révolutions libérales des années 1830 et 1840. L'importance que les émetteurs monétaires suisses attribuaient à la stabilityé du pouvoir d'achat suggère que la demande pour les billets de banque dépendait de la variation escomptée du pouvoir d'achat. Pour un certain pouvoir d'achat, la circulation monétaire est déterminée par la qualityé des services financiers de l'émetteur. L'émission des billets de banque et leur maintien en circulation est une affaire cou̧teuse. Dans le bilan des émetteurs, la contribution des billets de banque était done insignifiante, sauf dans les périodes où d'autres instruments de dette étaient sujets à des intérȩts éleves.
What Can We Learn From Comparative Institutional Analysis? The Case of Telecommunications
Authors: Blankart Charles B. , Knieps GÜnter
Published: May 2007

In the paper several reasons will be investigated why there is only partial deregulation in Germany and extensive deregulation in the U. S. Purely economic reasons such as economies of scale are shown to be of little help for understanding telecommunications policy in Germany as compared to the U. S. As an alternative, a politico‐economic approach is presented. It is shown that institutional differences can help to understand the differences in deregulatory policy. In Germany, decisions on telecommunications deregulation are centralized on the federal level, whereas they are distributed on the federal and state level in the U. S. As consequence, a different interest group representation is prevailing in each country promoting deregulation in the U. S. and impeding deregulation in Germany. It is shown that the obstacles to deregulation in Germany might be overcome through an explicit compensation scheme embodying an entry tax on the one hand a price subsidy on the other.
Staatsverschuldung und Demokratie
Authors: Weizsācker Robert K. Von
Published: May 2007

Policy options must remain within the realm of the feasible, and the interests of political agents must be recognized as constraints on the possible. James M. Buchanan (Nobel Prize Lecture, AER 1987, p. 248)
Differences In Economics: Europe and the United States
Authors: Mayer Thomas
Published: May 2007

The author, born in 1927, received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is emeritus professor of economics at the University of California, Davis. Previously he taught at the University of West Virginia, Notre Dame University, Michigan State University, and the University of California, Berkeley.
The Organization of Economic Research: Why Europe is Still Behind
Authors: Tabellini Guido
Published: May 2007

The author, born in 1956, is currently professor of economics at Bocconi University, Milan (Italy). He previously taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (where he also got his Ph.D.), Stanford University, University of Cagliari and University of Brescia (both in Italy). He has acted as consultant to the World Bank and held visiting positions in several international research and policy institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Carnegie Mellon University, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Stockholm.
THE STRUCTURE OF NON‐INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Pym Bridget A.
Published: May 2007

Organization structure is determined by the interaction of several variables. Woodward's work suggested that technology is one of the most important and this study attempts to extend her findings from the industrial to the non‐manufacturing sphere. The results show that structure does relate to task within the non‐manufacturing group — but that taken as a whole the structures of the non‐manufacturing group differ from all those Woodward found in manufacture. Some of these differences are seen to derive from the relative simplicity of the non‐manufacturing technology. Others can be traced to the operation of intervening variables.
THE AGGREGATION OF ESTIMATES IN HIERARCHIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Berry A. J. , Otley D. T.
Published: May 2007

This paper explores two issues in the formation of expectations in hierachically ordered organizations ‐ the estimates of events made by individuals at one level and the coupling of these estimates to those made at the next level in the organization. Data from two field studies are used to illustrate the changes in risk bearing imposed by close coupling of estimates at two different levels and the potential reinforcement of bias in estimation which coupling may engender.
INDIVIDUAL MODERATORS OF THE TASK DESIGN, JOB ATTITUDE RELATIONSHIP: A NOTE ON MEASUREMENT
Authors: Robey Daniel
Published: May 2007

Many job design studies incorporate a direct measure of individual differences to test the contingency hypothesis of Hulin and Blood. This study examines two basic approaches to the measurement of potential moderators of the relationship between job design and job satisfaction. One method involved independent determination of a work value system, and predicted job satisfaction of subjects in an experimental study on job enlargement. The second method, strength of higher order needs, did not yield the same results as did the first. This difference shows that choice of an operational definition of individual differences affects research findings. For purposes of personnel selection or placement, the work values approach (method one) appears to be more useful than the need strength measure (method two).
SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE RELATED TO THE CASE OF THE SUPERORDINATE INTEGRATOR
Authors: Tinker A. M. , Lowe E. A.
Published: May 2007

This empirical study seeks to characterize processes of integration in complex organizations. The need for integration is examined initially in terms of the ideas of Weber, Pugh et al., Child, Lawrence and Lorch, and Pettigrew. Subsequently integration is related to a system's view of the problem of organizational control that underlines how the environment tends to both ‘fractionalize’ and ‘factionalize’ an organizational decision‐making system. The integrative task is then represented in terms of processes that seek to effect stable combinations of interrelationships between differntiated sub‐units.

The evidence is presented in the form of a series of cases and incidents obtained during a one‐year participant observation study in a large multi‐national company. The research aims to identify ‘contingency’ guidelines in the design of integrative mechanisms by exploring differences in: the characteristics of integrative sub‐systems, the organizational environments in which they operated and the kinds of (intergroup) decision conflicts in which they were engaged. This exploratory study suggests that important conditions include: the identification of the integrative unit members, how ‘ill‐structured’ the decision problems encountered are and the degree of support for integrators that is perceived to be provided by senior management.
ON ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN: FROM A LINEAR PROGRAMMING POINT OF VIEW
Authors: Obel Børge
Published: May 2007

This paper analyses the impact of different organizational structures on the coordination problem of the multilevel organization. The two basic structures analysed is the U‐form and the M‐form within the framework of a price‐directive coordination mechanism. Issues such as vertical and horizontal decomposition, the length of the planning period, the level of aggregation, etc., are discussed. The basis for the analysis is results from decomposing of linear programming models.1
EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION: A QUANTUM VIEW OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Miller Danny
Published: May 2007

There may be hidden costs in making prompt incremental and piecemeal changes to organizational structure to cope with a new strategy or environment. We shall argue that changeless stable intervals punctuated by infrequent but revolutionary periods of ‘quantum’or multifaceted structural change may sometimes be the most economical strategy. Incremental structural changes may create severe and costly disharmonies as they destroy an integral structural configuration. These costs might outweigh the benefits of adapting structure to changes in strategy and environment. Because such costs may be high it might be necessary to delay changing until they can be justified. Such delays can require subsequent revolutionary structural changes. The applicability of this view of change for different contexts will be discussed.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARY SPANNING ROLES IN STRATEGIC DECISION‐MAKING [I]
Authors: Jemison David B.
Published: May 2007

The influence of boundary spanning roles on strategic decision‐making was explored in a field study in fifteen organizations. Results support the importance of boundary spanning roles in the strategic decision‐making process and the relationship of technology to the differential strategic decision‐making influence of different boundary spanning roles.
ASSESSING THE SAMPLES OF PRIOR ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH
Authors: Miller George A. , Anderton Douglas L. , Conaty Joseph C.
Published: May 2007

The sampling designs used in organizational research have been less than consistent across different reported studies. In this analysis we examine the reported relationships among several key organizational variables in ten separate previously published studies to determine the degree to which major differences in sample designs have influenced findings. We isolate that portion of reported associations due to unique characteristics of the samples and report the association these ‘sample design effects’ have with particular sample designs. Results indicate homogeneous samples of organizations inflate reported relationships yet leave significant sources of variation uncontrolled in sample selection. an alternative to sampling of homogeneous organizations is suggested by the fact that larger and probabilitistically selected samples are also associated with larger reported relationships among organizational variables.
THE PROCESS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Authors: Telem Moshe
Published: May 2007

The concept of the PROCESS ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE (P.O.S.) represents an attempt to take current systems‐oriented organizational theory one step further. The P.O.S. is viewed as an additional type of organizational structure, existing and operating in the organizational space, side by side and integratively with the formal and informal organizational structures. Its characteristics are identified and analyzed, and a multi‐dimensional process framework designed to fit all organizations is outlined. The framework's contribution to our understanding of organizational structure and dynamics is indicated, as well as its potential usefulness as a tool for theory and practice.
PROPRIETORIAL CONTROL IN FAMILY FIRMS: SOME FUNCTIONS OF ‘QUASI‐ORGANIC’ MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Authors: Goffee Robert , Scase Richard
Published: May 2007

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies of managerial control which are used by the proprietors of family‐owned business enterprises. Interviews with the proprietors and senior managers of businesses in the building industry illustrate the ‘quasi‐organic’ nature of management structures. These grant some autonomy to senior managers without threatening proprietorial decision‐making prerogatives. Although the family firm has certain distinctive features, similar control strategies designed to ensure that delegated decisions are ‘reliable’ and ‘responsible’ are evident in various types of business enterprise. There is, then, scope for further comparative research within a conceptual framework which does not entirely divorce the family firm from other business organizations.
TECHNOLOGY AND SPAN OF CONTROL: WOODWARD REVISITED
Authors: Collins Paul D. , Hull Frank
Published: May 2007

This study of production operations in 95 New Jersey manufacturing firms explains the widely replicated curvilinear relationship between first line supervisory span of control and Woodward's technological complexity scale. Revisiting Woodward led to the initial proposition that the relationship was a by‐product of the differing degree of task variability among the major types of production operations. A subsequent literature review of administrative requirements suggested the importance of size, complexity and automaticity on supervisory span of control. Our data indicate that variations in the span of control of production operations classified according to Woodward's scale are attributable to the underlying effects of size and task complexity. Technology, whether operationalized as Woodward's production types or automaticity of machinery explained little variation in the span of control of first line supervisors.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE TURNAROUND STRATEGY IN COMMERCIAL BANKING
Authors: O'Neill Hugh M.
Published: May 2007

An analysis of the content of turnaround strategies in the commercial banking industry is presented. Most prior work on turnaround strategies examined durable product industries rather than service industries. Theory developed in this past work is used to predict the content of turnaround strategies in this service industry. Discriminant analysis is used to test the predictions. The turnaround prescriptions developed in the durable goods industries are found to be valid predictors in the commercial banking industry. Suggestions are made to encourage further study of applications of the strategic paradigm in service industries.
THE NEED FOR MIDDLE‐OUT DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING STRATEGY
Authors: Boxer P. J. , Wensley J. R. C.
Published: May 2007

The current tendency to move decision making closer to those concerned with implementing decisions in order to make use of their local market and customer knowledge is timely, particularly in relation to marketing strategy. This tendency is reflected both in the shift away from broad strategic analysis and towards encouraging strategic thinking throughout the organization; and in the emergence of more decentralized strategy development through structural innovations such as Strategic Business Units.

For the manager‐in‐the‐middle who has historically had the task of relating the broad corporate strategies to the detail of delivering products and services to the customer, this shift in emphasis creates new stresses, for it is not possible for him to assume, even in the most established consumer goods companies, that the strategic development of such activities can be construed within the traditional marketing mix (4Ps) framework. Under such circumstances, he needs a framework which enables him to take account of the crucial interactions going on within the market's infrastructure itself between customers, competition and channels (3Cs).

If the manager‐in‐the‐middle is then to be effective in responding to his increasingly complex responsibilities in relation to such markets, he must also be given the ability to manage the micro‐organizational context within which he delivers products and services. This micro‐organizational context is crucial because it determines the quality of the relationship that can be sustained with the customer. The higher the quality of the relationship, the tighter the coupling that can be maintained with the local market. Such tight coupling makes the relationship with the customer more defensible against competition. It therefore provides the basis for sustaining and developing the profitability of value‐adding products and services so necessary to long term corporate survival.
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CORPORATE LEVEL DISTINCTIVE COMPETENCIES, DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY, CORPORATE STRUCTURE AND PERFORMANCE
Authors: Hitt Michael A. , Ireland R. Duane
Published: May 2007

Recent evidence suggests that large multibusiness firms can enhance performance by developing and exploiting corporate level distinctive competencies. In this study of 185 industrial firms, the relationships between corporate level distinctive competencies and performance were examined across firms using different diversification strategies and having different corporate structures. The corporate level distinctive competencies/performance relationships were found to vary by type of diversification strategy but not by type of corporate structure. In addition, only a small relationship was found to exist between diversification strategy and corporate structure. The specific relationships between corporate level distinctive competencies and performance and their normative implications are explored.
THE MAKE‐BUY DECISION AND MANAGING MARKETS: THE CASE OF MANAGEMENT BUY‐OUTS
Authors: Wright Mike
Published: May 2007

This paper attempts to develop the issue of the internalization of transactions (the make‐buy decision). Butler and Carney (1983) have developed the concept of managing markets where under certain conditions transactions will not be internalized. This paper, as well as attempting to complete this picture, also draws attention to a largely ignored aspect of organization theory ‐ the issue of when a transaction which is already internalized will be externalized. In examining the sale of subsidiaries by parent companies an attempt is made to draw the boundaries of Williamson's divisionalized form of organization. The necessary and sufficient conditions for sale to the management are developed in the theoretical discussion, followed in the second section by empirical evidence from a survey of management buy‐outs.
THE PROCESSING OF CRISIS AND NON‐CRISIS STRATEGIC ISSUES
Authors: Dutton Jane E.
Published: May 2007

This paper asserts that organizations process different types of strategic issues in systematically different ways, proposing that organizational decision‐makers expend greater resources, centralize authority and generate a greater volume of causal explanations during the processing of crisis versus non‐crisis strategic issues. Data from comparative tracings of several crisis and non‐crisis issues in a single organization lend preliminary support to the propositions. By conceptualizing the process of issue resolution both from an instrumental and symbolic perspective, this type of response to crisis issues can be interpreted. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS IN ACTION: STRATEGY IN THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
Authors: Wilson David C. , Butler Richard J.
Published: May 2007

Organizations in the voluntary sector have received relatively little attention from researchers in the field of organizational analysis. In particular, the strategy of organizations in the voluntary sector has been assumed to be passive, concentrating on a co‐operative role with commercial or public agencies. This article argues that such a picture is not necessarily accurate and examines the strategies of four leading British voluntary organizations. Data suggest that co‐operation is but one of many strategies pursued by some voluntary organizations. Two of the sample organizations deviate markedly from the stereo‐typical image of co‐operation, and variation in their strategy choice is argued to emanate from dependence relations created by organizational links. The paper argues that the influences which shape the choice of strategy in voluntary organizations are primarily those created by inter‐dependence, and that aspects of task and ambiguity are secondary sources of influence.
BRITISH EMPLOYEES: RESPONDING TO JAPANESE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHIES
Authors: Reitsperger Wolf
Published: May 2007

Japan's industrial success has opened new opportunities in the area of business research and has generated particular interest in ‘the Japanese way of doing things’. One specific area of concern has been that of job satisfaction and its relation to productive achievement. The study carried out in the United Kingdom involving one American, two ideally‐matched Japanese subsidiaries and one British company, all involved in television manufacturing, refutes certain stereotypes about Japanese management. First, the study revealed that the two Japanese companies employed distinct personnel policies which were reflected in the differences in job satisfaction registered by their employees. Second, it showed that the paternalistic personnel policies instituted by one Japanese company were not preconditions for its high productive achievement but, selectively applied, generated appreciative feelings among its British work‐force.
A CULTURAL THEORY OF INFORMATION BIAS IN ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Thompson Michael , Wildavsky Aaron
Published: May 2007

Organizations show an essential cultural pluralism. Taking this into account, we aim at developing a cultural theory of organizations. A central role in this theory is played by information rejection, which can follow any of four different styles: risk absorption, networking, paradigm protection, or expulsion. These can be related to different types of organizational cultures, in particular to markets, hierarchies, and sects. Different kinds of information bias institutionalize different kinds of leadership.
FACTORY MANAGERS: THEIR ROLE IN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND THEIR PLACE IN THE COMPANY[1]
Authors: Edwards Paul K.
Published: May 2007

Studies of recent developments in personnel management have concentrated on personnel specialists. It is also necessary to consider how general managers view labour relations. This article analyses a survey of the senior site managers, ‘factory managers’, in 229 large manufacturing establishments. The need to examine higher levels of firms notwithstanding, the establishment level remains of crucial importance, for it is here that policies are implemented. Factory managers might be expected to see labour relations as unimportant. In fact, they saw them as crucial to the operation of the plant, and the managers played a substantial role in decisions on personnel questions. They saw labour relations not in terms of overcoming union opposition, or even of formal institutions, stressing instead the involvement of individual employees. This article analyses these findings and raises some questions about the extent and depth of British management's commitment to this new style of labour relations.
ENVIRONMENT, ORGANIZATION AND EFFECTIVENESS: A BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH[1]
Authors: Kimberly John R. , Rottman David B.
Published: May 2007

Answers to the question of what makes an organization effective have proved elusive despite more than 20 years of intensive theorizing and research. Yet the search for answers, which gained momentum with Lawrence and Lorsch's (1969) Organization and Environment, clearly has had salutary effects on students of organizations and their work. This paper offers an approach to analysing organizations explicitly based on two of those benefits. The first is the shift toward a more dynamic orientation for explaining organizational configurations and outcomes. The second is the identification of strategic decisionmaking as the key link between organizational environment, structures, and effectiveness.

By merging these two, we construct a biographical approach to the study of organizations. This approach sees organizations as evolving through time in response to, or in anticipation of, both external and internal forces. We view effectiveness as the outcome of a variety of decisions taken by one or more groups of organizational actors ‐ elites or coalitions ‐ in the context of bounded rationalities and environmental and structural constraints. So decision processes underpin observed configurations of environmental and structural features and link these configurations to effectiveness. An organization's biography ‐ the pattern of its evolution ‐ can be conceptualized as a succession of decisions and their consequences, with some decisions having a major long‐term influence on the direction taken by the organization and its effectiveness, while others have but an incremental influence.

This article is an initial effort to make concrete our ideas. The opening section discusses organizational decision‐making and organizational effectiveness. This is the core of our approach: a basis for categorizing organizational decisions and in particular for singling out those which can be regarded as strategic. It is our contention that significant decisions vary across organizations and that it will embrace rather than ignore history and context. And ultimately, it will enhance our understanding of organizational effectiveness.