Organization of work in interaction between the paramedics and the patient

The paper analyzes the ways in which the two paramedics organize their work activities in the courses of interaction with the patient. The paramedic-patient -interaction is generally based on question-answer -sequences where one paramedic asks a question to which the patient answers. The paper examines the organization of paramedics' institutional roles and responsibilities within these particular sequences of talk by conversation analytic means. Instead of leaning on any personal or psychological explanations, the paper aims to demonstrate how particular breaches or problems in the organization of division of labour become explainable and understandable through the detailed analysis of preceding interaction. The main research data consist of the videorecordings of naturally occurring interactions between paramedics and patient.     

The relative influence of country conditions, industry structure, and business strategy on multinational corporation subsidiary performance

Two competing theories of firm performance have been proposed in the business strategy literature, the industry structure view and the resource-based view of the firm. Empirical studies have estimated the relative contribution of industry structure, corporate, and business unit effects to business unit performance. These studies, however, have been restricted to using only single-country data. Missing from this debate is an international dimension that includes the relative importance of country conditions as a determinant of firm performance. The objective of this article is to fill this void by adding country characteristics to the analysis. Using cross-country data of four large multinationals in a single industry, we estimate the relative importance of country characteristics in addition to industry structure, corporate characteristics, and subsidiary strategy as determinants of subsidiary performance by using multiple regression analysis. This analysis also will contribute to the discussion on environmental determinism versus strategic choice. Country and industry characteristics are mainly outside the control of management, whereas corporate characteristics and subsidiary strategy are under management's control. Results show that country characteristics are by far the most important determinant of subsidiary performance, followed by industry structure, subsidiary strategy, and corporate characteristics. Thus, country conditions are a very important determinant of firm performance that so far has been overlooked in previous studies. These results indicate that subsidiary performance is determined mainly by conditions outside the control of subsidiary management. In terms of competing theories, these results support the environmental determinism view more than the strategic choice view and the resource-based view of the firm more than the industry structure view. These results also have important implications for multinational corporations' selection of countries for entry and investment and for performance evaluation of subsidiary management.     

Rationalities and Images Underlying Labour Migration from Bangladesh to Malaysia

Most studies of temporary labour migration use economic models or examine the economic rationales of migrants to explain why people are moving. Although in migration research new approaches and perspectives have been introduced lately, temporary labour migration, especially in the global South, is still defined primarily as purely economic in nature. This article concentrates on the migrants and their rationalities for migrating, their networks as well as their perceptions and interpretations of the situation they are confronted with abroad to argue that concentrating solely on economic aspects means to lose sight of the tremendous role images and myths about migration in general and receiving countries in particular do play. Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia, who have contributed to the remarkable economic success of the country during the last decades, are in the focus. The construction of the images and the role networks play within these processes will be analysed using data gathered from field research in both settings. Of special interest in this context is the construction of a Muslim brotherhood between the countries for an understanding of the migration flows. This article intends to broaden the current discussions on temporary labour migration by analysing not only the different motives and rationalities but relating them to the constructed images in the new spaces that temporary labour migration has constituted. This important link is missing so far in studies on this global phenomenon.     

Breaking the in‐group out‐group: shifting boundaries in transnational partner choice processes of individuals of Moroccan,Tunisian, Algerian,Turkish, Punjabi Sikh,Pakistani and Albanian descent in Belgium

The ongoing popularity in some second and third generation migrants in Western Europe of marrying a partner from the countries of origin of their (grand)parents is considered to be problematic for micro and macro level societal integration of some migrant populations. Partner choice and marriage practices in migrant communities are problematized in public, media and political discourses by discriminating them from marriage practices in the ‘native’ population on the basis of three related dichotomies: (1) agency versus structure, (2) us versus them and (3) romantic versus instrumental marriage intentions dichotomies. By means of in‐depth qualitative research methodologies on the partner choice processes of women and men of Turkish, Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Punjabi Sikh, Pakistani and Albanian descent in Belgium and an intersectional theoretical approach, this article aims to deconstruct popular and simplifying dichotomous representations of partner choice processes in these migrant populations. Our study reveals how religious, gender and social class boundaries are stretched to meet personal/individual desires and preferences. Individuals do experience social restrictions when it concerns social group boundaries and the potential partners that they can look for. At the same time individuals are never fully determined by their social environment, they creatively develop strategies to by‐pass certain restrictions and to some extent are able to meet their personal needs while being sensitive to the desires of their social environment.     

Virtual Reality: space of negotiation

This paper explores issues of embodiment and representation in relation to Virtual Reality technologies and focuses in particular on the questions that arise in a technologically enforced negotiation between the virtual and the real. My exploration introduces two of my virtual environments, presenting the experimental, provocative playground spanned by such technologies. The sensory involvement of participants in these dynamic, virtual spaces enables me to produce performative realities, in which the boundaries between the Self and the allegedly Other are of a liquid nature. Virtual Reality technology can thus be considered as a ‘thinking apparatus' that not only allows but also provokes to explore the transformation of the real, the body and the Self through the concept of the virtual.     

Scars in disability culture poetry: towards connection

In this article I present a sample of US disability culture poems and their treatment of scars in order to re-evaluate the status of the wound in disability culture. I argue that instead of becoming a sign of melancholic identification with a victim position, these scar poems speak with a different imaginary, one that aims at connection rather than isolation and a focus on the individual body. With this the article adds to our understanding of disability culture aesthetics.     

Zugedeckt. Aufgedeckt? Familienbiographische Verstrickung als Problem bei der Behandlung des Nationalsozialismus — Erfahrungen in der Kollegialen Beratung

The following essay describes the work of a group of advice among professional colleagues. The group was founded ten years ago. The background of this foundation is that all group members work with the topic National Socialism. Some work in research, some in instruction (e.g. research-institutes, memorial sites, schools). In the group of advice among professional colleagues the family biography was a central topic. The thesis is, that via the confrontation with the familiy-biography, less projections are made and a higher professional level is reached.     

THE LIMITS OF CAREER CONCERNS IN FEDERALISM: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

Performance‐based promotion schemes in administrative hierarchies have limitations. Chinese provincial leaders, despite facing strong career concerns, make different policy decisions depending on their career backgrounds. Provincial party secretaries who have risen from low to high positions within the province they govern (“locals”) spend a higher share of budgetary resources on education and health care and invest less in construction infrastructure than party secretaries who have made their most significant career advancements in other provinces (“outsiders”). Identification comes from variation in central leadership and term limits. As the promotion mechanism rewards infrastructure investments, locals are less likely to be promoted at the end of the term. We explore various mechanisms and provide evidence that the difference between locals and outsiders is not driven by knowledge or experience. Several pieces of evidence suggest that locals cater to low‐level provincial elites, who helped them rise to power. Thus, local career trajectories limit the power of career concerns by fostering competing allegiances.     

Status Loss Due to Ecological Success. Landscape Change and the Spread of the Rabbit

This article focuses on the early modern history of the rabbit in England, France, Flanders and Holland, as a case in the long-term dynamics between society and nature. How and why did the rabbit spread and what was the role of humans? Deforestation, the spread of agriculture and the set up of warrens were key elements that created a new habitat for the rabbit. Investments in promoting rabbits were market driven. The rabbit provided a welcome resource of fur and meat after many furry wild animals had become extinct as a result of hunting and habitat destruction. Once the rabbit became wild it turned into a pest. Extensive damage to crops and disastrous sand drift were unforeseen and undesired results. Ultimately, the ecological success of the rabbit was the cause of its loss of status.