Outsourcing human resource management: A comparison of Russian and U.S. practices

Our objective is to determine the current state of outsourcing of HRM functions at companies operating in Russia, both Russian and Russian-based foreign com-panies, and compare and contrast the results with the findings of the Society for Human Research Management (SHRM) study of outsourcing practices at American companies in the United States. The comparison reveals the differences and similarities in terms of reasons for outsourcing as well as the obstacles and problems in implementing HRM outsourcing decisions to a foreign setting.     

The Russian Economy and the Oil Price: A Co-integrated VAR Approach

Using a co-integrated VAR model, this paper analyzes the dynamic effects of oil price and interest rate shocks on the Russian economy for the period 1995:Q1-2008:Q2. The co-integration analysis leads to the finding that a 1% increase in oil prices contributes to real GDP growth by 0.8%, suggesting an increase four times that reported by Rautava (2002), in the long run. Furthermore, the impulse response analysis suggests that the impacts of the shock on inflation and real GDP are positive over the next eight quarters (short run), whereas the tightening of monetary policy through interest rate channel is immediately associated with a decline in inflation as predicted by theory, but with an increase in real GDP over the preceding quarters.      

1917 and All That: A History of Russian at Glasgow University

This article examines the history of Russian teaching at Glasgow University from the beginning of 1917 up to the present day, paying particular attention to the context in which the original lectureship was created and to the period from 1976 onwards. Consideration is also given to the questions of who studied Russian, what they were taught and what links have existed with the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia.     

Subjective Reactions to Two Regional Pronunciations of Great Russian: A Matched-Guise Study

En sociolinguistique russe, il est un domaine bien négligé, celui de l’examen impartial des préjugés linguistiques contre les variétés de langue non-standard. Dans cette étude, j’ai travaillé avec des sujets russes parlant un russe standard et ayant reçu une éducation supérieure, pour mesurer leurs réactions subjectives aux deux prononciations régionales les plus marquantes du grand-russe: Vokan’e où la voyelle [o] est maintenue dans des syllabes non-accentuées, et la prononciation russe du sud dans laquelle l’occlusive vélaire voisée [g] est remplacée par la consonne fricative [Y] ou aspirée [h]. La méthode expériméntale utilisée a été la technique “Matched-Guise” dans laquelle les sujets écoutent une série de voix enregistrées et les évaluent chacune pour divers attributs sur une échelle numérique. Certains des sujets enregistrés l’ont été dans les deux varieétés de langue, la langue de prestige et la langue stigmatisée, ce qui permet de voir les réactions aux différences dans la qualité de la voix. Les données recueillies montrent que les prononciations non-standard du grand-russe sont dévalorisées pour des attributs liés au statut, et à cet égard, le russe est semblable à d’autres langues européennes qui ont une langue standard extrêmement codifiée. On a également constaté, ce qui est plus inhabituel, l’importante revalorisation des sujets parlant Vokan’e pour des attributs personnels, ainsi qu’une dévalorisation marquée de la prononciation du sud pour ées mêmes catégories. Cette dichotomie doit résulter de conditions spécifiques à l’ex-Union Soviétique. La réaction positive à l’ okan’e, un dialecte rural selon le stéréotype, peut avoir été inspirée par une littérature de village en prose, alors que la réaction négative à la prononciation du sud est peut-être liée aux dirigeants politiques de l’ère soviétique qui l’ont utilisée. Ces données confirment également l’efficacité de la technique “Matched-Guise” pour conduire ce type ?’enquête sociolinguistique en Russie.     

The death of bin Laden: How Russian and U.S. media frame counterterrorism

This study explored how Russian and U.S. newspapers covered the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 through the lens of framing theory. Results reflect significant disparity in how media in different countries covered the same event, suggesting that terrorism events were framed as national concerns rather than global issues, thus potentially limiting governments and the media from building a shared understanding with international audiences. The findings also indicate that more robust media relations efforts are needed to counter simplistic media counterterrorism frames. Finally, the study identified new frames for counterterrorism including secrecy and humanizing terrorists. These new frames suggest the need to expand the framing literature to provide a better understanding of how the media cover counterterrorism, which may impact the U.S. government's public diplomacy and counterterrorism efforts.     

The gambling lifestyle: I. theory

This paper describes the lifestyle model of gambling behavior in which compulsive gambling behavior is conceptualized as a lifestyle characterized by pseudoresponsibility, self-ascension, hypercompetitiveness, and social rule breaking/bending/ twisting. The underlying premise of this theory is that gambling behavior takes on the appearance of a lifestyle when it is viewed by the individual as a viable means of enhancing self-worth, minimizing personal insecurity, and controlling fear. Three primary areas of theoretical and research interest are covered in this paper: (1) the theoretical underpinnings of lifestyle theory; (2) the individual components (conditions, choice, cognition) of a gambling lifestyle; and (3) the developmental progression of a gambling lifestyle.The author would like to thank Henry Lesieur and anonymous reviewers of earlier versions of this paper for their helpful comments. The assertions and opinions contained herein are the private views of the author and should not be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or United States Department of Justice.     

Social competence in Russian post-institutionalized children: A comparison of adopted and non-adopted children

The study examined the social skills of 92 Russian children (males = 64) adopted by Italian families. The children, aged between 8 and 14 years, were compared with a control group of children who grew up with the biological family. Evaluation by both parents and children of the children's social competence were investigated. The results showed that, according to the parents' reports, the adopted children had more problems in social functioning than peers in the control group, along with a greater propensity to use maladaptive behaviors such as Oppositive Behavior, Rule-Breaking Behavior, Aggressive Behavior and Externalization. By contrast, according to the children's assessments, the adopted children were less aggressive and used prosocial behaviors to a greater extent than children raised in the biological family. The views of the parents and the children about the children's aggressive behavior were mutually conflicting.Finally, the influence of adoption related variables on the social competence of children was examined. Contrary to our expectations, there were no significant relationships between social competence and age of adoption, the duration of institutionalization and the time spent in the adoptive family.