bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
IMPACT OF DATA WAREHOUSING ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF RETAILING FIRMS
Authors: LEE SANG M. , HONG SOONGOO , KATERATTANAKUL PAIRIN
Published: April 2004

This study investigates the relationship between the implementation of data warehousing and organizational performance in retailing firms. For this research goal, five hypotheses are developed and tested. The paired T-tests and Hotelling's T-square tests are performed on two groups — retailing firms implementing data warehousing and those that do not. The results of analyses show that data warehousing firms achieve better nonfinancial performance, including promotional performance analysis, vendor analysis, customer analysis, and market segmentation analysis, but do not achieve better financial performance, including the year-to-year percent change in sales per employee, return on sales, and year-to-year percent change in sales.
FORECASTING FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES WITH ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS: A REVIEW
Authors: HUANG WEI , LAI K. K. , NAKAMORI Y. , WANG SHOUYANG
Published: April 2004

Forecasting exchange rates is an important financial problem that is receiving increasing attention especially because of its difficulty and practical applications. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been widely used as a promising alternative approach for a forecasting task because of several distinguished features. Research efforts on ANNs for forecasting exchange rates are considerable. In this paper, we attempt to provide a survey of research in this area. Several design factors significantly impact the accuracy of neural network forecasts. These factors include the selection of input variables, preparing data, and network architecture. There is no consensus about the factors. In different cases, various decisions have their own effectiveness. We also describe the integration of ANNs with other methods and report the comparison between performances of ANNs and those of other forecasting methods, and finding mixed results. Finally, the future research directions in this area are discussed.
Romantic Love and ‘Getting Married’
Authors: Wilding Raelene
Published: April 2004

In theories of mass popular culture, there remains a continuing assumption that the dominant messages encoded in media texts impact upon and influence their audiences. Thus, the question that is usually posed is one regarding the extent to which audiences are aware of and able to resist such domination by media messages. In this article, I use a comparison of narratives of romantic love in cinema texts and in the conversations of people ‘getting married’ to challenge such assumptions of unidirectional influence. I argue that both media texts and their audiences are part of a larger cultural logic, one that is not necessarily more dominating of audiences than of producers of texts, but which may nevertheless be used to reinforce prior unequal relations of social organization.
The Houston 2001 National Counseling Psychology Conference
Authors: Meara Naomi M. , Davis Kathleen L.
Published: April 2004

The authors briefly note the accomplishments of the Houston 2001 National Counseling Psychology Conference and focus on several questions raised that, in their judgment, have implications for how counseling psychology will continue to develop as a specialty. Noteworthy accomplishments are the following: (a) inclusiveness in content and participation, (b) better linkages to the American Psychological Association (APA) and among counseling psychology organizations, (c) spotlighting the importance of political advocacy, and (d) concretizing counseling psychology’s social advocacy mission to focus on social justice. The questions raised include (a) preparation of students for entry-level positions in science and practice, (b) ratio of potential earnings as an autonomous professional to the educational investment required, and (c) appropriate balance of breadth and depth in training professional psychologists.
Counseling Psychology and Social Justice
Authors: Baluch Suraiya P. , Pieterse Alex L. , Bolden Mark A.
Published: April 2004

The 4th National Counseling Psychology Conference presented a unique opportunity for our field to share our progress and contemplate future directions. Fouadet al. ’s accountis a contribution to the documentation of our profession’s history. Fouad et al. ’s article and the 4th National Counseling Psychology Conference can also be viewed as a continuation of our profession’s search for its identity. The authors of this reaction paper urge the counseling psychology profession to integrate a social change identity. Specific recommendations to effect this transformation are offered.
Development and Validation of the Korean Rape Myth Acceptance Scale
Authors: Oh Euna , Neville Helen
Published: April 2004

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a culturally relevant rape myth acceptance scale for Koreans. Three studies on the Korean Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (KRMAS) with approximately 1,000 observations provide initial validity and reliability. Specifically, results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support four subscales: myths about rape survivors, rape perpetrators, the impact of rape, and rape as spontaneous. The KRMAS was validated with student and community samples and a factorial invariance analysis provided evidence for the factor structure across men and women. The KRMAS total score was positively related to the Attitudes Toward Sex Role Scale–Korean and the Acceptance of Violence Scale, indicating that greater endorsement of rape myth acceptance was related to greater levels of attitudes toward traditional sex roles and violence against women. Implications of the findings and future research directions are provided.
Counseling Psychology and School Counseling Partnership
Authors: Gysbers Norman C.
Published: April 2004

This article focuses on why possible partnerships between counseling psychology and school counseling may be overlooked or underutilized. One reason may be a lack of awareness. Then,attention is given to some challenges faced by school counselors as they carry out their work in the schools. Finally, suggestions are offered that can lead to forging strong partnerships that could assist school counselors to respond to the challenges they face and be more effective in their work.
A Reaction to Counseling Psychology and School Counseling
Authors: Sabella Russell A.
Published: April 2004

Counseling psychologists and school counselors share some similarities in their history, training, and experiences. Although these similarities have fostered a common interest in educational and developmental interventions among children and some shared theoretical language, there remains several hurdles to effectively collaborating created by the significant differences in these two professions.
Counseling Psychology and School Counseling
Authors: Whiston Susan C.
Published: April 2004

Romano and Kachgal proposed a model for collaboration between counseling psychology and school counseling, which they argued would advance each specialty and benefit children and adolescents. In this response, the author examines current trends in both specialties that may impede a closer partnership while also considering the advantages of the proposed model. In conclusion, the author argues that there is a common denominator, counseling, that could serve as a uniting factor.
Problem-Solving Appraisal and Human Adjustment
Authors: Heppner P. Paul , Witty Thomas E. , Dixon Wayne A.
Published: April 2004

This article reviews and synthesizes more than 120 studies from 20 years (1982-2002) of research that has examined problem-solving appraisal as measured by the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI). The goals of the article are fourfold: (a) introduce the construct of problem-solving appraisal and the PSI within the applied problem-solving literature, (b) summarize and integrate existing findings using the PSI within and across four major content areas (psychological adjustment, physical health, coping, and educational and vocational issues), (c) identify promising research directions that might stimulate future research and promote theory development, and (d) identify implications for practitioners in the helping professions. We conclude that problem-solving appraisal as measured by the PSI is a useful psychological construct with implications for theory and many applications to build on peoples' strengths to enhance their life satisfaction and well-being.
The 2003 Leona Tyler Award Address
Authors: Helms Janet E.
Published: April 2004

The effects of race, defined as individual-difference variables, on Black test takers'performance on tests of cognitive ability, knowledge, and skills have not been investigated in the traditional scholarly testing literature. Moreover, the scholarly testing community has been unwilling to consider this alternative conceptualization of race as a viable explanation for differences in test scores among racial groups. I argue that racial individualdifference variables sometimes account for enough variance among Black test takers' scores to explain the Black-White test score disparity.
Gambling Against the State: The State and the Legitimation of Gambling
Authors: Cosgrave Jim , Klassen Thomas R.
Published: April 2004

Gambling has come to be legitimated in many western countries since the reintroduction of lotteries as methods of revenue generation for the state in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then, state-sanctioned gambling opportunities have expanded to include casino games, sports betting, video lottery terminals, scratch and win games and others as governments seek to increase revenues. The article analyses the state’s role in the legitimation, expansion and marketing of gambling activities, and discusses the major cultural and ideological implications of this development. It argues that this legitimation must be seen in the context of broader social and economic forces related to the deregulation of markets. The legitimation of gambling illustrates the shift in social and economic morality away from the ‘rational’ basis of capitalism in Protestant ethics, and towards the deregulation of economic attitudes. While this shift suggests a further rationalizing of economic activity and attitudes, the analysis of the broader cultural implications illustrates the tension between the rational and irrational forces in late capitalism. The article focuses on developments in western countries, but state-sanctioned gambling is expanding in non-western countries as well.
Towards an Analysis of Institutional Cultures: Bulgaria, Germany and Taiwan
Authors: Daheim Hansjürgen , Wei-An Chang , Chavdarova Tanya
Published: April 2004

This research by social scientists from Bulgaria, Germany and Taiwan started with the question of how a comparison of the institutional cultures of these three countries could be done. ‘Institutional culture’, here, refers to the traditions of society as well as to the values of particular institutions. The authors attempt an answer by exploring problems of cultural comparison, by describing the research process as a meeting of cultures, by developing an agreed upon conceptual framework to orient the analysis. They exemplify their approach in comparable descriptions of the core cultures and of the related economic-political exchange cultures of the three countries. This allows a contrast between the institutional cultures of different ‘civilizations’, and the authors provide a matrix of traditions and exchange patterns for empirical research on particular economic phenomena. The data basis is literature at hand on the history of mentality as well as on the history and sociology of societies and institutions. The research was carried out in 1997/8.
J’accuse!
Authors: Lewis Stephen
Published: April 2004

The lives of African children are touched daily by the tragedy of death, and death is their greatest fear. Since the pandemic of AIDS began in the late 1970s more than 16 million Africans have died. The 25.3 million Africans living with AIDS have virtually no access to the anti-retroviral drugs that are readily available in the West. While pharmaceutical companies and western governments discuss bringing pharmaceuticals to HIV-infected Africans, discussion has not led to action. The lack of political will by various governments and the international community to respond to the HIV/AIDS tragedy could be defined as mass murder.
Introduction - Filiation and Identity: Towards a Sociology of Intergenerational Relations
Authors: Bawin-Legros Bernadette
Published: April 2004

While American sociology, in the wake of Talcott Parsons's work, foregrounds the nuclear family, European sociology focuses on solidarity. In fact, the concept of family solidarity is essential to the French sociological tradition. The French-speaking world has become one of the most dynamic grounds for this kind of sociology, with the development of longitudinal methods and biographical methods, which have progressively brought along a new approach to the notion of family and prompted the use of another methodology.
Professional Trajectory and Family Patrimony
Authors: Guillaume Jean-Franćois
Published: April 2004

Entering professional life and establishing a firm hold on a job position are often explained around notions such as integration, project and employability, which stress the role of the individual. Yet they actually also have a family dimension. When they try to find their way to the labour market, members of the younger generation will use strategies developed in order to ensure the durability of a social position. They inherit professional know-how, a system of values and a network of personal relationships as well as property and financial assets. In order to consider this transmission process, the author discusses a research that focuses on young Belgian people's trajectories of professional integration. About 30 French-speaking young Belgian people were interviewed at some length, the information thus collected complementing the statistical analysis of various longitudinal data sets about the first 24 months after graduation. All had had some experience of professional integration, i.e. experience of work as salaried employees or as freelancers, but had not all secured a stable position. Researchers need to be aware of the theoretical and methodological implications arising from the juxtaposition between objective data collected in longitudinal surveys and subjective data written at the heart of biographical stories.
Paradoxes of Affiliation in the Contemporary Family
Authors: Déchaux Jean-Hugues
Published: April 2004

This article discusses modes of affiliation in the contemporary French family on the basis of a study of memory of forebears. Descent is shown to be transformed by individualism while remaining an essential symbolic reference. Hardly comparable to a kinship group, the line is tending to become a matter for personal imagination, and the values of assignation and autonomy have to accommodate one another. Such accommodation seems a strong characteristic of kindred systems.
Intergenerational Solidarity: Between the Family and the State
Authors: Bawin-Legros Bernadette , Stassen Jean-Franćois
Published: April 2004

Until the end of the 1970s, the sociology of the family neglected the vertical relationships between generations in favour of horizontal links between parents. The family was liberated from the weight of kinship and the nuclear model became the inevitable reference. But, with steady political, social and demographic changes, the horizontal relationships collapsed as sole model. Links between generations are becoming more and more important. With the crisis of the welfare state, increasing responsibility is being moved into the private arena. The lack of commitment and the progressive withdrawal of public institutions in the matter of social assistance has foregrounded family solidarity. Since the 1980s, many authors have warned of the dangers of considering private and public flows in solidarity as substitutable. Indeed, we have to regard them as complementary.
The Role of Grandparents
Authors: Gauthier Anne
Published: April 2004

This article presents the results of a research project based on in-depth interviews with newly retired grandparents and adolescents. Three basic patterns of relationship between grandparents and grandchildren emerge. On a wider level, this study echoes the flood of research over the last 20 years in the sociology of the family, research about intergenerational relationships and family solidarity. It is notable that this growth in interest conflicts with the emphasis placed upon the autonomy of generations by welfare states, materialized in that public sphere of exchange, the social welfare system. The author describes the socio-cultural context that has allowed assistance delivered within the family to be recognized and to become the subject of such interest. Certain pointers to a change in attitude are appearing, the most significant affecting age scales, family assistance and even the functioning of the welfare state.
Peer-Shared Households, Quasi-Communes and Neo-Tribes
Authors: Heath Sue
Published: April 2004

An increasing proportion of single young adults can expect to spend at least some of their 20-something years living in peer-shared households, defined here as households consisting of unrelated individuals living in self-contained houses and apartments. Indeed, many will also find themselves returning to such arrangements after living alone or with a partner. This article explores the nature of the relationships that exist between young people living in such households. First, using Maffesoli’s concept of ‘neo-tribalism’, the article explores the importance of proximity, shared space (both real and symbolic) and ritual to the everyday framing of relationships in peer-shared households. Second, the article considers the conditions under which some shared households may move beyond neo-tribalism to take on the characteristics of ‘quasi-communes’, marked by the institutionalization of friendship within a domestic setting. The article draws on empirical research involving 25 shared households in the south of England.
Intimacy and the New Sentimental Order
Authors: Bawin-Legros Bernadette
Published: April 2004

Intimacy is at the heart of affective relations in western societies. This intimacy is characterized by a paradoxical tendency. On the one hand people hope for fusion (a ‘pure relationship’ in Giddens’s terms) and at the same time they are driven by individualism and the desire for self-actualization. Drawing on data from a Belgian survey conducted in 1998, we can see that fidelity and transparency in the love relationship are what is most important to people. This aspiration is more important to women than to men, but there is no difference according to the level of education. Contemporary love is contradictory. Divorces are very numerous and yet at the same time people aspire to romantic love, fusion and fidelity.
The Precariousness of Choice in the New Sentimental Order: A Response to Bawin-Legros
Authors: Holmes Mary
Published: April 2004

The contention made by Giddens, among others, that intimacy has transformed due to processes of individualization is appraised in this article. With a specific emphasis on the degree of choice now said to be inherent in intimate relationships, consideration is given to the gendered nature of negotiating choice and how gendered inequality is often reproduced as a result. This is illustrated by research on distance relationships.
A Critical Lens on Romantic Love: A Response to Bernadette Bawin-Legros
Authors: Evans Mary
Published: April 2004

In this article the argument is made that the increased concern with the nature of contemporary love relationships overlooks the extent to which such a concern has been a feature of western culture throughout history. Examining these narratives of romantic love challenges the assumption that perceived changes to attitudes towards love, marriage and intimacy are unique characteristics limited to the context of the late 20th century. Thus the need to recognize both continuity and change in seeking to assess and theorize the nature of intimate relationships.
Latino Population Growth, Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics, and Implications for Educational Attainment
Authors: Chapa Jorge , De La Rosa Belinda
Published: April 2004

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that Latinos lag behind non-Latinos in education and in other socioeconomic characteristics. Although there are some positive indications such as the decrease of individuals and children living in poverty and an increase in the number of individuals working in the technical, sales, and administrative support sectors, the increases have been small. Current census population estimates indicate that the Latino population will continue its very rapid rate of growth for the foreseeable future. An overview of salient sociodemographic characteristics of the Latino population, including educational attainment, poverty, immigration, family income, family size, family type, and language status is provided. The steady increase of this very youthful population makes it imperative that it receive an education that will provide it with the skills to make it a productive citizenry.
Deconstructing Deficit Thinking
Authors: García Shernaz B. , Guerra Patricia L.
Published: April 2004

Studies of comprehensive school reform suggest that such efforts often fail because of educators’ unwillingness to examine the root causes of underachievement and of failure among students from low-income and racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds and because of their tendency to locate the problem within students, families, and communities. Drawing on their research and professional development experiences, the authors present a conceptual framework for the deconstruction of deficit thinking through staff development. Next, they discuss assumptions and beliefs about culturally diverse students and families that they have encountered in low performing schools, and they illustrate how such beliefs may be successfully challenged and reframed.
Dropout-Prevention Programs
Authors: Montecel María Robledo , Cortez Josie D. , Cortez Albert
Published: April 2004

The factors that contribute to student dropouts have been the focus of extensive deliberation during the last decade. Despite expanded attention, the number of dropouts remains unacceptably high. Drawing on the authors’ 17-year history of dropout research in Texas, Arizona, and across the country, this article describes the alarming dropout rates, especially among Hispanic students; assesses efforts that have been undertaken to address the dropout issue, including proven dropout prevention programs; and provides a new paradigm for preventing dropouts.
Introduction
Authors: Brown Frank , Harris J. John
Published: April 2004

The journey by African Americans to achieve quality education began with passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution providing the freedmen citizenship and protection from hostile state action under its due process and equal protection clauses. This article traces the plight of Black Americans to gain access to quality schools under the political control of a rarely supportive White majority. The authors tell of the forces active in reducing the impact and effectiveness of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court that declared the separate but equal doctrine made by an earlier Court that state enforced racially segregated schooling was unconstitutional. They reviewed the efforts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to reverse the Court’s separate but equal doctrine and move the country through the courts for 50 years to produce quality desegregated public education for all children. Also reviewed were the forces actively involved in efforts to reduce the effectiveness of the Court’s decision and recent changes by the Court in its interpretations of the original Brown decision. We expect the articles chosen for this special issue on the 5th anniversary of the Brown decision will help tell a more complete story of this journey by African Americans to achieve quality public education for their children.
Being Different: How Normative and Cognitive Aspects of Institutional Environments Influence Technology Transfer
Authors: Munir Kamal A.
Published: April 2004

This article provides a novel perspective on technology transfer by arguing that incorporation of a new technology into an organization may require it to become different in more ways than existing research would have us believe. This is especially true when host and home organizations are based in two widely different institutional environments. Because institutional pressures exert themselves on organizational behavior from both outside and inside the organization, they are critical in determining whether the transfer process is successful. Borrowing from institutional theory, the institutional environment of an organization is divided into regulative, normative and cognitive aspects. It is argued that, although less obvious in their influence, normative and cognitive institutions are no less important than the relatively more visible regulatory institutions. This article discusses how normative and cognitive aspects of the institutional environment affect international technology transfer and offers propositions as well as implications for researchers and managers. Although the insights developed in this article are applicable to any instance of technology transfer, they are more salient in cases where technology is transferred internationally. Also, the propositions developed here are probably more relevant in cases where ‘process-embodied’ technologies are being transferred.
Managing Managerial Identities: Organizational Fragmentation, Discourse and Identity Struggle
Authors: Sveningsson Stefan , Alvesson Mats
Published: April 2004

This is a case study of managerial identity work, based on an in-depth case of a senior manager and the organizational context in which she works. The article addresses the interplay between organizational discourses, role expectations, narrative self-identity and identity work. Identity is conceptualized in processual terms as identity work and struggle. The article illuminates fragmentation as well as integration in the interplay between organizational discourses and identity. It aims to contribute to a processual oriented identity theory and to the methodology of identity studies through showing the advantage of a multi-level intensive study.
Multiple Types of Psychological Contracts: A Six-cluster Solution
Authors: Janssens Maddy , Sels Luc , Van Den Brande Inge
Published: April 2004

The purpose of this study was to identify a variety of employment relationships based upon an economy-wide, representative sample. We turn to psychological contract studies examining different types of psychological contracts. We expand two existing typologies by incorporating multiple features or underlying dimensions of psychological contracts. Such a feature-oriented approach allows us to construct a meaningful conceptualization of employer and employee obligations across different settings and to identify multiple types of psychological contracts in which combinations of different dimensions are prevalent. Cluster analysis indicates the existence of six types of psychological contracts, all having different patterns of mutual expectations: instrumental, weak, loyal, unattached, investing and strong psychological contract. To validate the six-cluster solution, we develop cluster profiles based upon individual, job, formal contract and organizational characteristics and further differentiate between the clusters by examining their outcomes in terms of affective commitment and employability.
Work at Leisure and Leisure at Work: A Study of the Emotional Labour of Tour Reps
Authors: Guerrier Yvonne , Adib Amel
Published: April 2004

This article explores the work of one particular type of leisure worker: the overseas tour rep. Drawing on theoretical debates, it analyses qualitative observation and interview data collected from tour reps working in Mallorca, Spain for a British budget tour operator. We explore the paradoxes of delivering emotional labour in a job where the boundaries between work and leisure are blurred, and which is both explicitly about delivering fun and also about the ‘dirty work’ of managing holidaymakers’ complaints and excesses. We argue that reps actively seek spaces where they are able to buy into a lifestyle that they see as reflecting their authentic selves. This enables them to accept the negative part of their work and they become disciplined workers.
Managers Doing Leadership: The Extra-Ordinarization of the Mundane
Authors: Alvesson Mats , Sveningsson Stefan
Published: April 2004

Based on a case study of managers in a large, international knowledge-intensive company this article suggests a rethinking of leadership, taking the mundane, almost trivial, aspects of what managers/leaders actually do seriously. In the study, the managers interviewed emphasized the importance of listening and informal chatting. Managers listening to subordinates are assumed to have various positive effects, e.g. people feel more respected, visible and less anonymous, and included in teamwork. Rather than certain acts being significant in themselves, it is their being done by managers that gives them a special, emotional value beyond their everyday significance. Leadership is conceptualized as the extra-ordinarization of the mundane.
An Empirical Investigation of Sexual Harassers: Toward a Perpetrator Typology
Authors: Lucero Margaret A. , Middleton Karen L. , Finch Wendy A. , Valentine Sean R.
Published: April 2004

This study used published arbitration decisions as a data source to explore identifiable behavioral patterns of sexual harassment perpetrators. The results of the multi-method analysis generally supported the need to distinguish between different types of perpetrators and provided the basis for a new typology of sexual harassers. Two dominant themes emerged around the number of targets and the nature of the harassing behavior. Some harassers appear to target a small number of victims persistently, while others appeared to harass any and all targets whenever possible. Whereas some harassers engaged in very sexualized behaviors, others seem to prefer aggressive actions. A discussion of research and managerial implications focuses on the importance of distinguishing between different types of sexual harassers.
The Impact of Sociotechnical Task Demands on Use of Worker Discretion and Functional Skill
Authors: Cronshaw Steven F. , Alfieri Amanda J.
Published: April 2004

This research applies theoretical propositions from macro-organizational research to the level of task-based work as performed by individual workers. A model, theoretical propositions, and testable hypotheses are developed which relate sociotechnical demand to decisional discretion and worker skill at the task level. Measures of sociotechnical demand are developed for the purpose of this research and the remaining measures of decisional discretion and worker skill are taken from the Functional Job Analysis system. An archival set of 100 tasks from a wide variety of jobs was rated by trained raters on measures of sociotechnical demand, decisional discretion, and worker skill. Analysis of these ratings provided generally good support for our theoretical predictions, with decisional discretion mediating the impact of both technological and social demands on cognitive skill. Complexity of social skill increased exponentially as a function of greater social demand, suggesting some important implications for labor economic theory and analysis. The results provided a strong empirical validation of the Functional Job Analysis model. Implications of the findings for social scientists, human resource planners, government policy makers, and human resource specialists are discuss
The Surface of Organizational Boundaries: A View from Psychoanalytic Object Relations Theory
Authors: Diamond Michael , Allcorn Seth , Stein Howard
Published: April 2004

Organizational life contains many influences. Among these are its many divisions, sections, departments, professions and groups. The presence of these constituent parts of an organization directs attention to the points at which they connect to each other. Contemporary discussion of the relationship of these parts is confined to exploring organizational boundaries that contain a conceptual concreteness that belies their ultimate experiential significance. We suggest that the notion of boundary may be extended to explore their sensate surfaces that contain primitive, pre-verbal, pre-symbolic, and pre-subjective characteristics. Human beings experience the world as surface-to-surface contact where tactile sensation reveals hardness or softness, warmth or cold, pattern and shape, and most of all a sense at the point of surface-to-surface contact of containment. We suggest that it is within the autistic–contiguous mode of experience that the sensation of organizational boundaries is located and with it the ultimate psychological meaning of organizational structure.
‘You Can Checkout Anytime, but You Can Never Leave’: Spatial Boundaries in a High Commitment Organization
Authors: Fleming Peter , Spicer AndrÈ
Published: April 2004

This article suggests that the concept of organizational boundaries evokes a spatial metaphor. While the scant literature exploring the social geography of organizational life has pointed to the powerladen nature of spatiality, it does so only within the workplace. Our article maintains that the very boundary separating the inside from the outside of organizations is an equally important instrument for controlling labour. In light of the permutations that this boundary is currently undergoing, a field study is presented identifying aspects of a culture management programme aimed at significantly reorganizing the meaning of the inside/outside spatial divide among call-centre employees. This entailed a two-way process in which typically ‘private’ spatial practices are drawn into the site of production and organizational norms are encouraged outside work. The implications that these techniques have for employee autonomy are raised as important concerns.
Interpreting Silence and Voice in the Workplace
Authors: Bell Ella L J Edmondson , Meyerson Debra , Nkomo Stella , Scully Maureen
Published: April 2004

This article began as an exploration of Black and White women’s efforts to address inequality and make changes in the workplace, but we soon turned the mirror back onto ourselves as Black and White women engaged in change efforts. Our struggles over interpreting the data revealed how Black and White women struggle to make sense of whether the other is a reliable ally. Black women wonder whether White women will raise their voices or be silent yet again. White women wonder whether Black women can trust that silence is sometimes a strategy. Charting a course through defensiveness, questioning, and some distinct “aha” moments led us to understand our phenomenon and ourselves more deeply. We end this article at a way station, not a final destination, with open questions about the prospects for cross-race collaboration.
Negotiating with the Chinese
Authors: Miles Michael
Published: April 2004

Negotiation is a context sport. It demands attention to multiple motivations, agendas, and preferences. Negotiation across culture complicates context by highlighting the cultural realities of the negotiation dance. Without awareness of appropriate cues to follow and sensitivity to the possibilities for action opening and closing throughout the negotiation process itself, foreigners face little possibility of successful conclusion to negotiation in a cross-cultural setting. This article makes explicit seven principles driving the act of negotiation in a Chinese context. Within the framework of an actual negotiation for delivery of training for Chinese managers, the author describes what these principles look like as they were enacted through Chinese negotiating practices and how he responded to them from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. In the face of Chinese negotiation principles, the article suggests a range of practical strategies for successful—and respectful—negotiation in China.
Facilitating and Undermining Organizational Change
Authors: Kahn William A.
Published: April 2004

This article offers a case study of a research-action project in which the author functioned as researcher and change agent. The success and failure of this project was related to his finding and losing the balance of joining and remaining separate from a social system’s dynamics. The author describes the research project and reflects on its covert dynamics. In doing so, he illustrates the relationship between helping system members get unstuck from their automatic, dysfunctional patterns of relationships and getting himself unstuck from those patterns. He describes as well the forces within him and in the system itself that pulled for him to lose his balance, such that he either tumbled into it as a member or fell away from it altogether. He frames the learnings in terms of change agents creating or undermining the holding environment in which system members struggle to change dysfunctional relationship patterns.
Managing the Disappointment of Job Termination
Authors: Miller Michael V. , Robinson Cherylon
Published: April 2004

As termination has become common among high-status workers, an industry has evolved that purports to assist in their reemployment. Advocates of outplacement have emphasized to employers, however, that the industry’s service primarily functions as a self-protective device, minimizing the problematic reactions of job losers and bystanders. The particular strategy articulated by advocates for orchestrating the emotions, energies, and goals of terminated workers is described, and is interpreted as being analogous to that used by confidence game operators in “cooling-out” those they defraud.
Learning from Mistakes is Easier Said than Done
Authors: Edmondson Amy C.
Published: April 2004

This research explores how group- and organizational-level factors affect errors in administering drugs to hospitalized patients. Findings from patient care groups in two hospitals show systematic differences not just in the frequency of errors, but also in the likelihood that errors will be detected and learned from by group members. Implications for learning in and by work teams in general are discussed.
DBTDL Replacement in High Resilience Slabstock Foams
Authors: Gerard E. -J. , Verstraete H. , Maas W. , Schlenter B.
Published: April 2004

Over the last two years, serious concerns have been expressed in the press about human exposures to trace amounts of alkyl tin moieties such as tributyltin (TBT). Organostannic compounds are commonly used as catalysts in polyurethane chemistry. Whereas stannous octoate (SNOCT) exhibits a TBT content below the detection limit of most analysis equipment (< 0.01%), TBT levels as high as 0.6% have been measured in dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL). Although DBTDL manufacturers are currentlyoptimising their process to lower the TBT content in DBTDL, the (chemo) pressure exerted on polyurethane foamers is such that DBTDL-free formulations are being activelylooked for.

High resilience (HR) foams based on various polymer polyols–particularly polyols made with pure polystyrene (POSTech*) or poly(styrene–acrylonitrile)–have been developed using DBTDL as the gel catalyst. The direct replacement of DBTDL is not straightforward, as foam block dimensional stabilityissues (often referred to as “cold flow”) are encountered when other catalyst (i.e., SNOCT) are used.

This “cold flow” phenomenon is verymuch dependent on the size and the weight of the foam block produced, making all small scale laboratory experiments unsuitable for developing novel stable HR foam formulations.

The present research has shown that properties derived from small scale experiments can nevertheless be related to the “cold flowability” of HR formulations. Amongst the various tests investigated, the variation in sag factor from top to bottom of the foam block was found to be the most relevant test method to assess the dimensional stability. Sag factor is here defined as the force exerted bythe foam compressed to 65% of the original thickness divided by that exerted at 25% compression during the compression load deflection (CLD) test. The test method based on this variation in sag factor through the foam block (vSag) made possible the laboratoryexamination of formulation parameters for their impact on foam block stability. It also allowed us to develop a wide density range of POSTech-based DBTDL-free HR slabstock foams that are dimensionallystable.
Foam-in-Foam Polyurethane Composite
Authors: Yuan Y. , Shutov F.
Published: April 2004

Open-pore flexible polyurethane (PUR)foams with various pore sizes (1–8 mm)were used as 3-D filler to reinforce low-density, closed-cell PUR flexible foam. The final composite has a “foam-in-foam” structure. Compared to the unfilled PUR flexible foam, the composite exhibits considerable improvement on mechanical properties: with the same density, the compressive modulus increased up to 11 times. A model developed for cellular material was used to predict the compressive modulus of the foam-in-foam composite, and the results were compared with the experimental data. Marketing aspects of a new family of reinforced PUR foams are discussed, such as cushioning and packaging.
Dimensional Stability of LDPE Foams: Modeling and Experiments
Authors: Yang Chi-Tai , Lee Kevin L. , Lee S. -T.
Published: April 2004

The thickness change of extruded low density polyethylene (LDPE) foam as a function of the blowing agent and aircounter diffusion during the post-extrusion aging process is modeled. The blowing agent and air counter diffusion equations are coupled with the viscoelastic equations to model the foam volume shrinkage and recovery processes in a closed-cell LDPE foam. The variables studied include polymer elastic and viscous constants, foam sheet thickness, cell count and foam density. The mathematical model is also compared with experimental data.
Foam Extrusion of Syndiotactic Polypropylene–Polyethylene Blends
Authors: Park Chung P.
Published: April 2004

A flexible foam material having a high service temperature has been extruded from a blend of a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) resin and a syndiotactic polypropylene resin. Owing to its slow rate of crystallization, a syndiotactic polypropylene resin does not interfere with foam expansion of the polyethylene resin but provides the foam the desired temperature resistance by in-situ crystallization.
Cellular UHMW Polyethylene Produed by Non-Foaming Leaching Technique: Morphology and Properties
Authors: Shutov F. , Ananthanarayan V. T.
Published: April 2004

The objective of the research was to develop and study the properties of cellular or porous Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) Polyethylene for biomedical applications. The process, based on the leaching technique, does not require any modification in processing equipment, is environment-friendly and uses raw materials approved by the FDA for in vivo medical applications. It is possible to produce porous polymers having predetermined pore size, pore shape and porosity using the leaching technique. The pores are interconnected and well-distributed throughout the threedimensional volume of the sample. The size, shape and content of the porogen in the molding mixture greatly affect the physical properties of the pores in the final porous sample. Maximum porosity of 60% was obtained. The developed porous UHMW Polyethylene, which is permeable by liquids, can be used as a substrate matrix in bone regeneration and in hip-and knee joint replacements. With adequate lubrication, the porous implants would prevent the formation of polymer debris due to friction and thereby increase the life of the biomedical implants. The new generation of developed porous polymers could be used in a wide range of medical and bioengineering applications.
Diffusion of Cyclopentane in Polyurethane Foam at Different Temperatures and Implications for District Heating Pipes
Authors: Olsson Maria E. , Jarfelt Ulf , Fröling Morgan , Mangs Sara , RamnäS Olle
Published: April 2004

District heating pipes are usually polyurethane-(PUR)-insulated and the outside is protected by a polyethylene (HDPE) casing. The permeability of the cell gases (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and cyclopentane) in the PUR foam and in the HDPE casing was determined for a temperature range of 20–60 C (PUR) and 5–40 C (HDPE).

From the results, it was concluded that the casing acts as the main diffusion barrier for carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen, whereas the main diffusion barrier for diffusion of cyclopentane is due to the PUR foam. This conclusion is valid for district heating pipes of small to medium dimensions.
The Effect of Processing Variables on the Quality of Injection Molded Foamed Parts
Authors: Duever T. A. , Tripp M. T. , Tzoganakis C.
Published: April 2004

The main objective of the work presented was to determine which operating variables of an injection molding foam process had a significant effect on the physical properties of the EVA foams produced. Statistical design of experiment techniques were used to first screen potential factors and then conduct experiments involving dominant factors to develop empirical response surface models for each of the responses. The models were then verified by testing their ability to predict the results of new experiments both inside and outside the model ranges.
Development of Polypropylene Plank Foam Products
Authors: Parky Chung P. , Garcia Gerald A.
Published: April 2004

Low-density plank foam products were developed from both conventional and high melt strength (HMS) polypropylene resins. Bubble stability was achieved by making the foam density low and the cell size small. The use of a multiple-orifice die with an optional use of forming yielded a plank foam product with a large cross-sectional size.
Dynamics of Spherical Bubble Growth
Authors: Pai Vivek , Favelukis Moshe
Published: April 2004

A model for the dynamics of spherical bubble growth in a quiescent viscous liquid is presented. The gas inside the bubble is a van der Waals fluid, and the viscous liquid outside the bubble is a Flory–Hugins solvent–polymer solution. The growth of the bubble in the viscous liquid is assumed to be controlled by momentum, heat and mass transfer. Using the integral method, the transport equations were transformed into ordinary differential equations, which were numerically solved. An analytical criterion of when it is justified to make the usual isothermal assumption is also derived. The relevance of this work to the processes of polymer melt devolatilization and the production of foamed plastics is discussed.
Foam Extrusion of PP–EMA Reactive Blends
Authors: Pesneau Isabelle , Champagne Michel , Gendron Richard , Huneault Michel
Published: April 2004

The foaming of PP–EMA thermoplastic elastomers with CO2 during dynamic cross-linking has been investigated. The cross-linking of the ethylene and methyl acrylate (EMA) phase was obtained through an alcoholysis reaction with 1,5-pentanediol. The influence of chemical composition and processing parameters on cross-linking extent was determined. PP–EMA foams were then obtained under different conditions, and analyses were carried out to assess their gel content and density, as well as cell and blend morphology. These properties were found to be closely related: the gel content determines the blend morphology, which in turn greatly influences the foam morphology and the final density.