Strategic Shared Leadership and Organizational Dynamic Capabilities

We propose that the purposeful sharing of strategic decisions and the process of making and taking those between the dominant coalition of an organization (Strategic Shared Leadership or SSL thereafter), initiated and supported by a focal strategic leader or small team, engenders Organizational Dynamic Capabilities (ODCs) though the transfer of individually-residing DCs within the SSL team, the transformation -co-creation of novel ones and their embeddedness-institutionalization within the organization. It also enhances organizational cognition which mediates the relationship by enriching co-created ODCs and their capacity to deliver reliably change through sensing, seizing and reconfiguring. Accordingly, SSL serves as a co-creator and key predictor of the emergence of ODCs. This helps address the challenges of DCs to marry stability with change, be predictable and to be capable of predicting.     

A fistful of euros: Is the German one‐euro job workfare scheme effective for participants?

Hohmeyer K, Wolff J. A fistful of euros: is the German one‐euro job workfare scheme effective for participants? Welfare reforms have constituted a major policy issue in many OECD countries in recent decades. In Germany, a major reform in 2005 emphasised the activation of welfare recipients and introduced a workfare programme –‘One‐Euro Jobs’– on a large scale. In the present study, the impact of one‐euro jobs on the employment prospects of different groups of participants was estimated. The analysis was conducted on a large sample of welfare recipients using propensity score matching. The sample of one‐euro job participants and other welfare recipients was drawn from administrative records comprising all those who started their participation in the programme in early 2005. Our results showed that participation slightly improved the medium‐term employment prospects for women but not for men. Participation reduced the employment rate of participants younger than 25 years but raised it for some of the older participant groups. In conclusion, one‐euro jobs are effective for participants who have been jobless for several years but ineffective for participants who were recently employed.     

The Ambivalent Appraisal of Job Demands and the Moderating Role of Job Control and Social Support for Burnout and Job Satisfaction

Social Indicators Research - Within an extended challenge–hindrance framework, it is assumed that job demands are subjectively appraised both as challenges (that is, as working conditions...     

A note on pensions and firm performance: First evidence from german micro data

Using a large new data set we present results from the first econometric study of the effects of pensions on firm performance in Germany. We find evidence for positive effects on wages, reduction of labor turnover, training, and profits. We use data from the Hannover Firm Panel Study which was financially supported by the Volkswagen Foundation.     

How People Perceive and Will Cope with Risks from the Diffusion of Ubiquitous Information and Communication Technologies

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly pervasive and continue to reshape our environment. This trend carries different risks. Therefore, the early sensitization of people to these risks, as well as improving their capacity for protective coping behavior, is essential. Based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), we examined with structural equation modeling the relationships between different components of threat and coping appraisal to explain protective and nonprotective responses. Calculations were performed with data from a representative survey on perception and use of ICT among German residents (N= 5,030). Our findings largely supported the proposed model: an increased perceived threat was positively related to the intentions to react protectively and nonprotectively. Perceived coping efficacy increased the protective and decreased the nonprotective responses. Negative affect enhanced the perceived threat and the nonprotective response, but inhibited protective intentions. The implications of these findings on how to sensitize people to the risks of these new technologies are outlined.     

Social perception of natural risks by local residents in developing countries—The example of the coastal area of Benin

Risk management and planning activities cannot be sustainably and efficiently implemented unless being based on a participative approach resulting from the problem consciousness and perception of the local inhabitants. This requires that the measures linked to problem perception and assessment by local stakeholders, above all by the population affected, are known. This investigation conducted in the flat Beninese coastal lagoon areas aims to assess the local inhabitants’ risk perception. The results are the following: (i) the stakeholders have group-specific ways of risk perception (according to ethnicity, social group, age); (ii) every risk management strategy should be based on the group-specific ways of risk perception and assessment; (iii) the acceptance of a given risk management strategy including interactive ways of participation can be advanced through education, dissemination of risk information as well as through communication between stakeholders.     

Designing for social inclusion of immigrant women: the case of TeaTime

We present our design of a digital service supporting social inclusion among immigrant women in an ethnically and socially diverse neighbourhood of a small Finnish town. The aim is to explore experiences and perceptions as well as potential barriers and challenges for using the web-based service. The case study is framed as design research having a strong user-centred design approach. We describe the design process and present the results of a mixed-method evaluation. The results are scrutinized from the perspectives of experience design. The analysis reveals a potential to facilitate social inclusion through the fulfilment of needs related to relatedness, autonomy, competence, pleasure and stimulations as well as popularity. However, some challenges in the interface design and communication of the security and purpose of the site were identified in the study. Significant differences were also found between immigrant women and local people regarding the need for this digital service.     

Eine integrative Theorie des Problemlösens in Gruppen: Problemlöseprozess und Problemlöseerfolg

This paper is the first paper in a three-part article series presenting an integrative theory of problem solving in groups on the basis of theory and research on group processes, problem solving and decision making. Group problem solving is differentiated into three main focuses of action, namely taskwork, group organisation and socio-emotional regulation. The present paper focuses on aspects of group organization. A theory of the structure of group mental models is developed. The mental model of problem solving groups is differentiated into a short-term and a long-term memory system. Under each memory system, several memory units are proposed containing declarative and procedural knowledge on aspects of the problem at hand and aspects of the group. Based on the assumption that success in problem solving results from the group’s success in solving various subproblems, recommendations for structuring the problem solving process are being drafted. It is suggested that during an initial orientation stage all occurring subproblems be rated according to their need for action and stored in the short term memory system. In the following action stage, the various subproblems stored in the short term memory system should be worked off in the order of their respective need for action. Based on characteristics of the subproblems at hand and on situative constraints, propositions concerning the resources needed for belabouring the various subproblems are established. Consequences with regard to the working mode of the group are derived.     

Kumulation von Mikrodaten – Konzeptionelle Grundlagen und ein Vorschlag zur Realisierung

Zusammenfassung: In dieser Studie wird ein Konzept zur Kumulation von laufenden Haushaltsbudgetbefragungen im Rahmen des Projektes Amtliche Statistik und sozioökonomische Fragestellungen entwickelt und zur Diskussion gestellt. Dafür werden die theoretischen Grundlagen und Bausteine gelegt und die zentrale Aufgabe einer strukturellen demographischen Gewichtung mit einem Hochrechnungs–/Kalibrierungsansatz auf informationstheoretischer Basis gelöst.Vor dem Hintergrund der Wirtschaftsrechnungen des Statistischen Bundesamtes (Lfd. Wirtschaftsrechnungen und EVS) wird darauf aufbauend ein konkretes Konzept für die Kumulation von jährlichen Haushaltsbudgetbefragungen vorgeschlagen. Damit kann das Ziel einer Kumulation von Querschnitten mit einer umfassenderen Kumulationsstichprobe für tief gegliederte Analysen erreicht werden. Folgen sollen die Simulationsrechnungen zur Evaluation des Konzepts.

---

Summary: In this study a concept for cumulating periodic household surveys within the frame of the project Official Statistics and Socio–Economic Questions is developed and asks for discussion. We develop the theoretical background and solve the central task of a structural demographic weighting/calibration based on an information theoretical approach.Based on the household budget surveys of the Federal Statistical Office (Periodic Household Budget Surveys and Income and Consumption Sample (EVS)) a practical concept is proposed to cumulate yearly household surveys. This allows a cumulation of cross–sections by a comprehensive cumulated sample for deeply structured analyses. In a following study this concept shall be evaluated.

     

Quality of Life Indexes for National Policy: Review and Agenda for Research

A number of governments and public policy institutes have developed Quality of Life Indexes – statistics that attempt to measure the quality of life for entire states or regions. We develop 14 criteria for determining the validity and usefulness of such QOL indexes to public policy. We then review 22 of the most-used QOL indexes from around the world. We conclude that many of the indexes are successful in that they are reliable, have established time series measures, and can be disaggregated to study subpopulations. However, many fall short in four areas: (1) indexes vary greatly in their coverage and definitions of domains of QOL, (2) none of the indexes distinguish among the concepts of input, throughput, and output that are used by public policy analysts, (3) they fail to show how QOL outputs are sensitive to public policy inputs, and (4) none have examined convergent validity against each other. We conclude that many of these indexes are potentially very useful for public policy and recommend research to further improve them.