Can a Participatory Approach Contribute to Food Chain Risk Analysis?

We consider food chain risks and specifically address stakeholder participation in the risk analysis process. We combine social and natural science perspectives to explore the participation process in relation to food risks and, in particular, to consider how some specific participation processes might be scientifically evaluated and how stakeholder participation in general might be incorporated into food risk decision making. We have built considerations based on three large integrative case studies that examine aspects of participatory processes. Here we use the case studies collectively to illustrate observations and beliefs concerning the nature of the interaction of stakeholders with established quantitative risk methodologies. This account is not supported by any large volume of analysis. The views in the report are expressed in relation to an accepted risk analysis framework and also with respect to probabilistic modeling of risks and are illustrated where possible with anecdotal reports of actual case study events.     

Can Target Costing and Whole Life Costing be Applied in the Construction Industry?: Evidence from Two Case Studies

Building on the results of a far‐reaching action research project we discuss an attempt to introduce target costing in the UK construction industry. After examining some of the issues facing the UK construction industry, we examine the case for using target costing as a way of supporting supply‐chain integration in view of an improvement of the level of profitability and quality of the industry. After presenting evidence from two pilot projects we propose some considerations on target costing and its applicability to the UK construction sector and derive directions for future research.     

Strategic renewal: Can it be done profitably?

Industry transformation requires strategic renewal at the level of individual firms. Executives then face the dilemma of choosing renewal paths in the face of uncertainty over the competitive environment of the future, and hence the profitability of potential strategies. This dilemma motivates us to study industry transformation from the perspective of strategic renewal among 208 large firms in the global pulp and paper industry. The findings of our qualitative comparative analysis show that only a minority of firms in our sample succeeded in profitable proactive renewal. Content-wise, there were similarities in the pursued strategies over the wider population, but only a few maintained superior profitability while proactively renewing. Our results, overall, highlight the importance of understanding the processual nature and execution of strategic renewal.     

Can organizational change be planned and controlled? Evidence from Russian companies

This study explores limits of applicability of a planned change approach in Russian companies. The data on change management programmes in 59 Russian companies of various industries, regions and sizes was gathered with the help of questionnaires filled by management consultants. The study found that resulted changes often did not coincide with initial plans of change agents. Two groups of organizational elements were identified: ‘uncontrollable’ (those elements that changed outside of the planned change) and ‘unmanageable’ (those elements that did not change despite forming part of the planned change). The findings also indicate that the efficiency of the change programme was unaffected by whether the change programme plans were executed or not. The results suggest that the applicability of a planned change approach is dependent upon the organizational elements at which change interventions are targeted and that change content has to be incorporated into contingency models of change.     

Who mentors? Contextual prosocial motivation and willingness to be a mentor

This study provides insights for theory and practice into employee willingness to mentor. This is especially important in passing knowledge from one generation of employees to another at a time when ageing populations are seen in many parts of the world. The study examines the relationship of contextual prosocial motivation with willingness to be a mentor while simultaneously considering various individual level influences on contextual prosocial motivation. Hypotheses were evaluated through a structural equation model. Results showed a positive relationship between contextual prosocial motivation and willingness to be a mentor. Additionally, organization-based self-esteem was positively related to contextual prosocial motivation, while proximity to retirement was negatively related to contextual prosocial motivation. Implications of the findings for human resource development are discussed with suggestions offered to strengthen contextual prosocial motivation of employees.     

The Call for a Shift from Risk to Resilience: What Does it Mean?

In recent years calls have been made for a shift from risk to resilience. The basic idea is that we need to be prepared when threatening events occur, whether they are anticipated or unforeseen. This article questions the extent to which this call will have and should have implications for the risk field and science. Is the call based on a belief that this field and science should be replaced by resilience analysis and management, or is it more about priorities: Should more weight be placed on improving resilience? The article argues that the only meaningful interpretation of the call is the latter. Resilience analysis and management is today an integrated part of the risk field and science, and risk analysis in a broad sense is needed to increase relevant knowledge, develop adequate policies, and make the right decisions, balancing different concerns and using our limited resources in an effective way.     

Can there be a domain-specific knowledge base in HRD? Reflections on the Lille symposium

A conversation recently began amongst senior human resource development scholars from around the world that focused on the prospects for theory development in human resource development (HRD). The opening event in the form of a panel discussion was held at the European HRD conference in Lille, France, in May 2008. This article summarizes and discusses contributions made by the panel participants.     

Can a leader be seen as too ethical? The curvilinear effects of ethical leadership

Ethical leadership predicts important organizational outcomes such as decreased deviant and increased organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). We argued that due to the distinct nature of these two types of employee behaviors, ethical leadership decreases deviance in a linear manner (i.e., more ethical leadership leading to less deviance), but we expected ethical leadership to reveal a curvilinear relationship with respect to OCB. Specifically, we expected that, at lower levels, ethical leadership promotes OCB. However, at high levels, ethical leadership should lead to a decrease in these behaviors. We also examined a mechanism that explains this curvilinear pattern, that is, followers' perceptions of moral reproach. Our predictions were supported in three organizational field studies and an experiment. These findings offer a better understanding of the processes that underlie the workings of ethical leadership. They also imply a dilemma for organizations in which they face the choice between limiting deviant employee behavior and promoting OCB.     

How to Model a Negligible Probability Under the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement?

Since the 1997 EC – Hormones decision, World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Panels have wrestled with the question of what constitutes a negligible risk under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. More recently, the 2010 WTO Australia – Apples Panel focused considerable attention on the appropriate quantitative model for a negligible probability in a risk assessment. The 2006 Australian Import Risk Analysis for Apples from New Zealand translated narrative probability statements into quantitative ranges. The uncertainty about a “negligible” probability was characterized as a uniform distribution with a minimum value of zero and a maximum value of 10^?6. The Australia – Apples Panel found that the use of this distribution would tend to overestimate the likelihood of “negligible” events and indicated that a triangular distribution with a most probable value of zero and a maximum value of 10^?6 would correct the bias. The Panel observed that the midpoint of the uniform distribution is 5 × 10^?7 but did not consider that the triangular distribution has an expected value of 3.3 × 10^?7. Therefore, if this triangular distribution is the appropriate correction, the magnitude of the bias found by the Panel appears modest. The Panel's detailed critique of the Australian risk assessment, and the conclusions of the WTO Appellate Body about the materiality of flaws found by the Panel, may have important implications for the standard of review for risk assessments under the WTO SPS Agreement.     

Can a team have too much cohesion? The dark side to network density

The goal of most work teams is high performance. Prior studies suggest that performance within work groups is influenced by that group’s social network topology. Research has generally revealed to date that group cohesion (i.e., network density) is positively related to team performance under certain conditions. However, more recent research has indicated that this is not the full story. Recent research suggests that an inverse curvilinear relationship exists between social network measures (of which group cohesion is one) and team performance. In response to the need for understanding this relationship more fully, and leveraging the promising new insights that can be garnered with the use of social network analysis (SNA), this study employs SNA as a tool to explore the structural cohesiveness of teams of travel agents. This research extends our understanding of the relationship between intragroup social network relations and team performance by confirming an inverse curvilinear relationship exists between group cohesion and team performance. This paper leverages email communication to determine the social networks of each team, and then examines such in light of team performance. In total, an analysis of more than 7 million emails was undertaken. This study was conducted with work teams within a service organization. Each team in the study carries out the same tasks, i.e., identical task contingency, yet represents a distinct unit of analysis. The study confirms that social network topology is a valuable predictor of team performance and confirms that, like so many other social network measures, group cohesion and team performance share an inverse ‘U’ shaped relationship, not strictly a positive one as previously posited.     

Are Networks Flat or Vertical?: Developing a Multi-Level Multi-Dimension Network Model

Extant public administration network literature tend to conceptualize and measure relationships in networks based on the premise that the nodes and ties in networks lie on a single-level horizontal structure. The purpose of the current study is to suggest that networks are inevitably multi-level and multi-dimension structures and propose a multi-level multi-dimension network model (MLMD). More specifically, network relationships such as within-level, inter-level, and inter-sector are offered to depict the multi-layered and multi-sectoral nature of the network relationships among the government and non-government actors. For empirical analysis, the current study constructs a hypothetical network to describe MLMD.     

Standard of Living as a Right,Not a Privilege: Is It Time to Change the Dialogue from Minimum Wage to Living Wage?

Dating back to the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt argued that workers were entitled to a wage that allowed them to enjoy a decent standard of living—a conviction that led the president to propose the first federally‐mandated minimum wage. Mr. Roosevelt’s proposal was met with highly partisan resistance in congress and the courts—reactions not different in kind from the highly partisan resistance former President Obama experienced in his proposal to increase the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 per hour. Reflecting President Roosevelt’s convictions, it is clear that many low wage workers today are not, and cannot, enjoying a decent standard of living at current minimum wage levels. Further, many of the economic arguments raised in opposition to increasing the minimum wage have been thoroughly discredited: empirical evidence suggests that increased minimum wages would not lead to dramatic spikes in unemployment, massive substitutions of capital for labor, business closings, and significantly increased consumer prices. However, as compelling as arguments for increasing the minimum wage may be, the reality is that this may not be sufficient to alleviate the plight of low income workers, particularly given the political nature of minimum wage adjustments. Indeed, it may be time to shift the national focus away from the minimum wage to an emphasis on viable living wage legislation, a proposition consistent with the social justice perspective of contemporary ethicists.     

Do We Need Computer Skills to Use a Computer? Evidence from Britain

Abstract. Using cross‐section data from the 1997 Skills Survey of the Employed British Workforce, we examine the labour‐market returns to self‐assessed computer skills in Britain. Many researchers, using information on computer technology use, have concluded that wage differentials between computer users and non‐users might, among others, be due to differences in the embodiment of computer skills. Using unique information on the importance, level of sophistication, and effectiveness of computer technology use, we show that computer skills do not yield significant labour‐market returns for most types of use. Examining the returns to computer skills at different levels of sophistication of use yields estimates suggesting returns to computer skills at the highest level of sophistication of use only.     

Challenges in assessing intent to die: can suicide attempters be trusted?

Assessing a person's intent to die in a suicide attempt is crucial for risk assessment and research, yet suicidal intent is notoriously difficult to measure. People who intended to die when they hurt themselves may deny it, and others may feign intent for secondary gain. Additionally, ambivalence, memory gaps, impulsivity, and fluidity of intent can hinder accurate assessment of intent. Circumstantial evidence, such as a suicide note, may illuminate true intentions but also has substantial limitations. This article summarizes disparate challenges to the measurement of suicidal intent; describes strengths and weaknesses of circumstantial indicators; reviews evidence from studies using the Suicide Intent Scale to show that subjective and circumstantial indicators do not strongly correlate with each other; and concludes with a call to place more trust in individuals whose disclosures of suicidal intent are questionable, even if the possibility for manipulation exists.     

Lessons from the flipside: How do acquirers learn from divestitures to complete acquisitions?

We examine whether experience from prior divestitures is associated with higher completion likelihood in subsequent acquisitions. We argue that through divestitures, firms could extract meaningful knowledge that is helpful for completing their acquisitions, such as a general understanding of acquisition deal-making stages, and the stories and aims of the target in an M&A transaction. In addition, viewing divestitures as the flipside of acquisitions, we conjecture that the selling firm can observe how the divested component of their business is acquired, and vicariously learn from these observations. We also investigate the relative importance of learning from divestiture vis-à-vis acquisition experience in determining acquisition deal completion. Finally, we contend that the effect of learning from divestitures on acquisition deal completion depends on acquisition experience and deal value. We find evidence supporting our conjectures in a sample of 2164 M&A transactions from the worldwide computer and printing industries between 1991 and 2010.     

Managerial commitment to the status quo and corporate divestiture: Can power motivate openness to change?

CEOs' commitment to the status quo (CSQ) is a prominent psychological factor leading to their resistance to organizational change. In this study we focus on the moderating role of managerial power, a central element in strategic choice, in the relationship between CEOs' CSQ and corporate divestiture activity. Drawing from the resource dependence perspective of power, we identify multiple aspects of power (structural, ownership, prestige/social, and expert power) that reduce CEOs' resistance to corporate change arising from CSQ. This study contributes to the strategic leadership and organizational change literatures by underscoring the importance of considering how different power bases shape the decision making of top managers who may have tendencies to hold onto firm assets when the situation warrants change. With a better understanding of how various power bases may uniquely influence strategic outcomes in the presence of managerial psychological bias, we can more accurately assess the impact of power on firms' strategic actions.     

Operational decision making for a referral coordination alliance- When should patients be referred and where should they be referred to?

In China, due to lack of clear regulation on care pathway of patients, it is commonly observed that the system experiences substantial utilization imbalance. One way to address this challenge is through creating healthcare alliances. Among the alliance, patients can be referred from high utilized hospitals to low utilized ones for services that can be provided in both types of hospitals with similar service qualities. Such an alliance system, usually includes one upper level high utilized hospital (ULH) (e.g. a Comprehensive Hospital) and several lower level hospital (LLH) that are low utilized (e.g. Community Hospitals). The alliance hopes to reduce waiting time of the system, especially the waiting time in the high utilized hospital. As a result, the utilization of the low utilized hospitals will be improved. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how to control the referral decision process. In this paper, we investigate when patients at the ULH will need to be referred to the LLH and to which LLH they should be referred to. Firstly, we focus our attention on an easy-to-implement threshold policy for the ULH for making the decision whether to referral patients. Then, we analyze five different selection strategies (Random Transfer, Maximum Number of Beds Available, Minimum Number of Beds Available, Maximum Available Beds Rate Status, and Minimum Available Beds Rate Status) to determine the LLH to which the patient is referred to. Simulation experiments are performed to make these analyses. Opposite to the intuition that it is best to send patients to the LLH with the most available beds, the results show that sending patients to the LLH with the lowest available bed rate (Minimum Available Beds Rate Status) is the best strategy. This is because that the ULH's waiting time is more important in the objective, sending patients to an LLH that its current available resources are more likely to be occupied by its own normal patients later, will help improve the overall probability that the ULH successfully refer patients out in the long run. Secondly, we also developed a PSO-OCBA method which integrates the idea from Optimal Computing Budget Allocation (OCBA) into the searching Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm for generating best control threshold. We find that if we can adaptively achieve the optimal K with the different selection strategies, the difference of the performance between the five strategies will be highly reduced. Our research is the first work that applies system engineering to the real-time referral decision problem between one ULH and several LLHs. It provides a novel perspective of patient referral control studies in the coordination alliance operation literature.