Introducing strategic management

This is a report on the International Conference on Strategic Management, held at Vanderbilt Graduate School of Management (14–18 May 1973). At the conference, senior academics, businessmen and consultants from fifteen countries met to discuss the problems of implementing strategic planning.     

Older people's experiences of community life: patterns of neighbouring in three urban areas

This paper examines changes to the community life of older people living in three urban areas of England: Bethnal Green, Wolverhampton and Woodford. All three were the subject of classic community studies in the 1940s and 1950s, these providing rich material about the lives of groups such as elderly people. Using this earlier research as a baseline, the paper presents data on how the experience of living in urban neighbourhoods has changed for older people in the intervening years. The article reviews the relationship between elderly people and their neighbours, drawing on quantitative as well as qualitative data. In conclusion, the paper identifies a number of general arguments pointing to the value of a community and locality perspective for understanding the impact of social changes on later life.     

Black African Children and the Child Protection System

This paper explores black African children’s experiencesof the child protection system in the UK. The central focusof the paper is a review of the available literature on thesocial circumstances and environmental influences affectingmany black African families involved in the child protectionsystem; specific parenting practices and care-giving environments;and their experiences of social work and other professionalinterventions aimed at safeguarding and promoting the needsof African children. This paper examines these themes to elucidatethe factors that contribute to the provision of effective, culturallycompetent interventions with black African children at riskof significant harm. It suggests that there are a number oftensions inherent for professionals in working with culturallydiverse African families such as reconciling different beliefsand behaviours concerning child-rearing practices; affirmingthe parenting practices of these families in the engagementprocess; adopting a strengths-based orientation whilst at thesame time safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerablechildren. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implicationsfor practice.     

Internet support groups for suicide survivors: a new mode for gaining bereavement assistance

Taken among parents who sustained the loss of a child to suicide this study explores the participation of parents in Internet support groups, comparing their demographic and loss-related characteristics (N = 104) to other parent survivors participating in face-to-face support groups (N = 297). Contrary to expectations that Internet affiliates would be concentrated in under-served rural areas, we found similar levels of urban, suburban, small city and rural residents in both Internet and face-to-face subsamples. Bivariate and multivariate analyses suggested several important factors contributing to interest in Internet grief support including: 24/7 availability and opportunities to invest more time into this type of support group experience. Compared to their face-to-face group counterparts, Internet affiliates experienced greater suicide stigmatization from their families and other associates. Unable to find ready comfort and support from their personal communities, Internet users-and especially highly depressed survivors-sought and obtained valuable help from the Internet support resource.     

柏拉图《理想国》中城邦和灵魂的类比

城邦和灵魂的类比关系的论证构成了柏拉图的<理想国>一书中正义论证的一块基石,从某种意义上说,柏拉图的正义论证的成立与否完全取决于其关于城邦和灵魂的类比关系能否成立.伯纳德·威廉姆斯发表于1973年的这篇文章即是针对这一类比关系所展开的深入的逻辑分析.在这篇文章中,威廉姆斯指出,正是在城邦和灵魂的类比上,柏拉图的论证存在着基本的逻辑混乱,他交替而不加区别地使用了两种性质截然不同的类比原则,即基于内涵的一致性的类比原则,以及基于整体和部分的一致性的类比原则,结果造成了他在关于城邦的正义和个人的正义的论证上的种种自相矛盾.威廉姆斯细致地分析了柏拉图由于混用这两种不同的类比原则所带来的种种理论上的困难,从而将人们通常在阅读<理想国>时所感到的各类疑难以分析哲学的方式给予了清晰的表达.显然,威廉姆斯的这篇文章不仅有助于我们深入认识柏拉图的<理想国>中的论证,而且也有助于我们了解分析哲学作为一种哲学史研究方法的价值.     

Developing culturally competent marriage and family therapists: treatment guidelines for non-African-American therapists working with African-American families

To serve African-American families effectively, marriage and family therapists need to develop a level of cultural competence. This content analysis of the relevant treatment literature was conducted to examine the most common expert recommendations for family therapy with African Americans. Fifteen specific guidelines were generated, including orient the family to therapy, do not assume familiarity, address issue of racism, intervene multi-systemically, do home visits, use problem-solving focus, involve religious leader, incorporate the father, and acknowledge strengths. Conceptual and empirical support for each guideline is discussed, and conclusions are made regarding culturally competent therapy with African-American families.     

Complexity theories and organizational change

Complexity theory or, more appropriately, theories, serves as an umbrella term for a number of theories, ideas and research programmes that are derived from scientific disciplines such as meteorology, biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Complexity theories are increasingly being seen by academics and practitioners as a way of understanding and changing organizations. The aim of this paper is to review the nature of complexity theories and their importance and implications for organizations and organizational change. It begins by showing how perspectives on organizational change have altered over the last 20 years. This is followed by an examination of complexity theories and their implications for organizational change. The paper concludes by arguing that, even in the natural sciences, the complexity approach is not fully developed or unchallenged, and that, as yet, organization theorists do not appear to have moved beyond the stage of using it as metaphor rather than as a mathematical way of analysing and managing organizations.     

Some exact results on the sample autocovariances of a seasonal ARIMA model

A seasonal random walk is an ARIMA process such that the first difference of order s (s ≥ 1) is a white noise. Given a series of observations from a particular linear transformation of a seasonal random walk, we study the autocovariances c'(k) based on uncentered data and the autocovariances c(k) based on centered data. In both cases, we provide exact, explicit formulae for the mean, variance, and covariance of the sample autocovariances. It is seen that the moments of the c(k)'s are different from those of the c'(k)'s, even asymptotically. Several analytical results presented in the paper were derived by using a symbolic manipulation program.