Pre-investment planning

Effective control of a firm's future depends upon sound pre-investment planning before further commitments are made. Therefore, the firm's situation has to be strategically characterized. In this article the author develops a strategic approach towards preplanning of investments. This approach can be helpful in suggesting a relevant investment policy. In this respect attention will be paid to acceptance criteria, financing considerations and types of commitment.     

Getting the Goods on Social Capital1

Abstract This article presents an overview of the origins, development, rapid diffusion, and current usage of the concept of social capital in both the academic (research-oriented) and more applied (social policy) literature. Following a short quantitative survey of the appearance of the term in both theses and journals, various meanings of social capital are examined in the light of classical and contemporary sociological theory. Three main research approaches, which are based on the operationalization of social capital or its application as a heuristic device, are critically examined. These approaches are associated with the work ofJames Coleman, Pierre Bourdieu, and Robert Putnam, but there are also some references to the work of economists. The authors contend that, while social capital has value and appeal as a new term, basic theory needs greater development. In particular, attention should be paid to acknowledging the specific perspective on social capital that underlies its usage, the scale or level of analysis employed, and the value of a qualitative use of social capital.     

The presence of the absent father: how lone mothers with sons construct and animate the absent father through narratives

This article builds upon results from an empirical study of nine cases where single mothers and their teenage sons have reflected on the relationship to the absent father and on his significance for the family. The results have led us to reflect further on how the construction of a father figure is shaped. The cases are selected from ongoing interventions from the social services. The child's age at the start of the father's absence varied from birth to seven years old or more. Through analysis of the different cases of mother–son dyad, their narratives and their joint construction of a father figure, the dyad transforms into a triad with the presence of the absent father. Also discussed is the question of which underlying conditions contribute to the need for a joint construction of the father. Further, doubt is cast on the one-sided gender perspective that presupposes young men's need for an adult man as a model of masculinity. The analysis is related to Swedish legislation, emphasising the importance of ascribed biological parenthood, meaning that fathers’ right to joint custody and to visit the child have been strengthened. Along with the biological relationship, the welfare state also regulates the content of fatherhood, i.e. a state-controlled fatherhood.     

Unity in Diversity: Sociology in The Netherlands1

Does accumulation of knowledge occur in the social sciences, and if so, under what conditions? Three research programs in Dutch sociology are evaluated with regard to theory accumulation: figurational sociology at the University of Amsterdam: structural individualistic sociology at the University of Utrecht; and data-based sociological practice at the University of Leyden. In the first two schools, a wide international orientation is accompanied by the use of a closure mechanism, i. e. a publication and citation network that is restricted to members of the same research program. The result is a high degree of theoretical unity within a context of program diversity. The article concludes with some observations on the future of Dutch sociology, followed by a list of publications in each of the three programs.     

Corporate-governmental networks in the Netherlands

Corporate networks studies have been restricted mainly to the private or business sectors. Network analyses involving both corporations and state or government agencies have been extremely rare. In this paper, the intercorporate network of interlocking directorates in the Netherlands, based on 86 large corporations and financial institutions, is studied in terms of a bipartite corporate—governmental network which arises from the interlocking memberships linking these corporations with major committees, agencies and similar centers of decision in the public sector or central state mechanisms in the Netherlands. The corporations, representing 27 industrial sectors, have been related to government and state agencies in 28 policy sectors. In this exploratory analysis the two heavy industries, metal/shipbuilding and chemicals/oil stand out clearly. With respect to the 17 central firms the results demonstrate consistent correspondence between their central position in the Dutch corporate network and the degree of their interlocks with policy sectors in the state. The results also show that the interlocks are overwhelmingly linked with the two policy sectors “economic affairs” and “education and sciences”. Hence a more detailed analysis of the interlocks with these two policy sectors is reported.     

Pitfalls in using portfolio techniques—Assessing risk and potential

Since share/growth portfolio techniques are often the main tool for strategy formulation in multiproduct corporations, reflection on the possibilities and the limitations in applying such techniques merits attention. It is demonstrated that these techniques cannot distinguish between sometimes subtle but nevertheless strategically important situational characteristics, and therefore they can lead to recommendations that will exacerbate the real problems. Thus, share/growth techniques are at best incomplete for planning, since they are too limited. They should be placed in a broader context using a financial-strategic method. In this article such a method for developing proper directional guidance is dealt with.