Presidential Popularity and Presidential Vote

The president's popularity rating is highly predictive of hisvote share in a reelection bid, especially when popularity isassessed in June of that year. This June popularity-vote modelpredicts about as well as the Gallup final preelection poll,and a 50 percent approval rating will ensure reelection.     

Self-management competencies in self-managing teams: Their impact on multi-team system productivity

This research examined how composition of individual capabilities within self-managed teams translates into greater effectiveness for multi-team systems (MTS) in which teams are embedded. We investigated how a broad range of self-management competencies by team members aggregate to form a collective construct that influences productivity of a team network. In a semiconductor plant, we surveyed 716 members from 97 self-managed teams in 21 MTS. We found that MTS comprising teams whose members widely practice self-management strategies attain higher productivity gains and that multi-team systems consisting of highly cohesive teams of self-managers are the most productive.     

Mass Customization in the Automotive Industry: Comparing Interdealer Trading and Reconfiguration Flexibilities in Order Fulfillment

Mass customization has been viewed as desirable but difficult to achieve in the volume automotive sector. Here we consider flexibility in automotive order fulfillment systems to enhance the ability to satisfy customers with their desired vehicle variants within acceptable delivery lead times. Two types of flexibility are compared in a Virtual‐Build‐to‐Order system—reconfiguration in the planning pipeline and interdealer trading. A representative simulation model is used to investigate the impact of the two types of flexibility across a wide spectrum of product variety levels. The impacts on major stakeholders in the system—the producer, dealers, and customers—are considered. The study shows that both types of flexibilities can bring significant benefits in terms of reductions in lead time and inventory holding. The level of product variety strongly influences the observed effects—an important finding in the mass customization context. Upstream reconfiguration flexibility brings greater benefits than downstream trading flexibility. Reconfiguration tends to dominate trading as a fulfillment mechanism when both are in operation. The findings have implications for the design and management of automotive order fulfillment systems in improving their ability to offer mass customization. The study has relevance for companies in other sectors with high levels of variety that seek to combine efficiency, speed, and flexibility in order fulfillment.     

The potential for successful family foster care: conceptualizing competency domains for foster parents

The potential to foster successfully starts with developing and supporting competency in 12 domains: providing a safe and secure environment, providing a nurturing environment, promoting educational attainment and success, meeting physical and mental healthcare needs, promoting social and emotional development, supporting diversity and children's cultural needs, supporting permanency planning, managing ambiguity and loss for the foster child and family, growing as a foster parent, managing the demands of fostering on personal and familial well-being, supporting relationships between children and their families, and working as a team member. This article describes each domain and reviews relevant research to help guide the assessment of practicing and future foster parents.     

Authoritative parenting and sensation seeking as predictors of adolescent cigarette and marijuana use

Adolescents with high sensation-seeking tendencies often seek out thrill seeking experiences to satisfy their need for stimulation and sensation. In many cases, sensation-seeking adolescents fulfill their need for stimulation and sensation by using illicit substances. However, not all high sensation seekers use drugs, although the factors that prevent or buffer sensation seeking remain unexplored. This study fills this gap in extant research by examining the role of authoritative parenting as a protective factor that prevents or buffers cigarette and marijuana use by adolescents with high sensation-seeking tendencies. Data from 1461 adolescents attending 6th through 8th grades in central Colorado were gathered during a semester-long classroom-based intervention to prevent the onset or further use of cigarettes. Results indicate that authoritative parenting moderated the effect of sensation seeking on adolescent marijuana attitudes, intentions, and peer influence but not behaviors. Further, authoritative parenting was a stronger influence than sensation seeking on cigarette-related outcomes with just the opposite effect observed for marijuana-related outcomes.     

Physical activity is associated with better health and psychological well-being during transition to university life

The authors investigated vigorous physical activity, psychological well-being, and self-reported illness during transition to first-year university life in a sample of 175 Canadian undergraduates. At the completion of their first year of university study, participants completed retrospective measures assessing vigorous physical activity, upper respiratory infectious illness (URI), doctor visits, as well as measures of psychological well-being. Based on nationally recommended (US Department of Health and Human Services) standards, 61% of students reported engaging in adequate levels of vigorous activity during their first year at university. The authors found no differences in URIs between sufficiently and insufficiently active students. However, insufficiently active students scored lower on psychological well-being and were twice as likely to have consulted a physician regarding an illness compared with sufficiently active students.     

Bringing assisted living services into congregate housing: housing directors' perspectives

The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of an Assisted Living Services (ALS) program on directors of state-funded congregate housing. Using focus groups, we interviewed congregate housing directors about how adding the ALS program to their facilities impacted their management experiences. Four themes emerged from the analysis of the focus group data: (1) importance of assisted living services for promoting aging in place; (2) "costs" of offering ALS; (3) differences in how the ALS program was implemented; and (4) organizational issues emerging from the merger of housing and health-care models. Based on the present findings, we propose a number of policy issues that need to be addressed when services are added to existing housing.     

Community exercise program for older adults recovering from hip fracture: a pilot study

Community-based rehabilitative exercise programs might be an effective means to improve functional outcomes for hip-fracture patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a community exercise program (CEP) for older adults recovering from hip fracture. Twenty-five older adults (mean age 80.0 +/- 6.0 years; 24 women; 71 +/- 23 days post-hip fracture) participated in this pilot study (17 exercise, 8 control). The CEP involved functional stepping and lower extremity-strengthening exercises. Control participants received only standard outpatient therapy. Measures of functional mobility, balance confidence, falls efficacy, lower extremity strength, and daily physical activity were evaluated at baseline and at 16 weeks. Improvements for self-reported physical activity, mobility, balance, and knee-extensor strength were observed for the CEP group. This study demonstrated that a CEP is beneficial for community-dwelling older adults post-hip fracture.