Stress and Unemployment: A Comparative Review and Research Model of Female and Male Managers

This paper presents a multifaceted approach to unemployment stress experienced by male and female managers, in the form of a literature review and comparative research model. In order to develop a working model which can be applied to both male and female managers, the paper covers a substantial range of the literature pertaining to the processes and effects of unemployment for managers. Previous studies often provide conflicting data which generally results from differential approaches taken to the study of unemployment. In addition, it is important to note that the majority of studies focus on blue-collar male workers and that the vast majority are based on a male model of work. The proposed model highlights sources of stress, moderators of stress and stress outcomes that may affect unemployed managers, and distinguishes areas in which gender differences are likely to be found. However, these differences are only hypothesized from the current literature and require in-depth research if they are to be fully understood.     

Assessing Competencies in Couples and Family Therapy/Counseling: A Call to the Profession

Psychometrically sound measures of family therapy competencies are necessary to assess the effectiveness of training on student performance. This article critiques the self-report and observer rating measures developed to date to assess the clinical skills of trainees in the individual and in the family therapy fields. Suggestions are made to foster future instrument development specifically designed for the field of couples and family therapy/counseling.     

The role,power and influence of company chairs

This paper develops an analytical framework to depict the heterogeneity that characterises the role of board chair and demonstrate the potential variability in how chairs operate boards and exercise power and influence on strategy, control and resource related tasks at board level. Theories of power and influence, as applied to top management teams and boards of directors, are explicated within the context of contemporary governance practices that are establishing the role of the board chair as distinct to that of the chief executive officer. Specifically, the paper maps sources of power and varying contemporary chair practices, including chair nomenclature (i.e. executive vs. non-executive chairs), chair origin (insider vs. outsider) and chair time (full-time vs. part-time). A number of theoretical chair-power models emerge from this analysis and are subject to empirical analysis using data collected from 160 chairs of 500 FTSE-listed companies. Theoretically and empirically, the paper complements structural approaches to studying boards with attention to behaviour on boards. By linking board structure, board process and the exercise of influence, the study reveals both differences amongst chairs in how they run the board, but also that chairs’ differ in the influence they exert on board-related tasks. Full-time executive chairs exert their greatest influence in strategy and resource dependence tasks whereas part-time, non-executive chairs seem to exert more influence over monitoring and control tasks.     

The electronic ‘go-between service provider': a new ‘middle' role taking centre stage

While the full impact of the Internet on traditional business models and strategies is yet to be played out, one thing is already certain: it will irrevocably challenge the nature of the traditional middle role. A full spectrum of Internet-driven consequences — from disintermediation to cybermediation — has already been observed by numerous academics and practitioners. This article describes a different intermediary: the ‘go-between service provider,' who is increasingly challenging traditionalists benefiting from the new market and economic dynamics of our time. This paper, based on case studies and interviews as part of a long-term research project, presents a conceptual framework; lists critical success factors; and assesses the impact of all this on corporate thinking and practice.     

Strategic leadership and the chief executive

This article is based on research undertaken among South African chief executives occupying the most senior operational positions in public-quoted companies. In looking at distinctive characteristics in these individuals the research attempts to bring together the activities that shape the chief executive's job and explore possible trends in their background; career route and behaviour patterns, and from the compositie picture to provide guidelines for executive development.     

Cultural analysis through semiotics: Len Norris' cartoons on official bilingualism*

Les caricatures éditoriales forment un métalangage pour parler de l'ordre social. Elles créent des mondes imaginaires qui permettent une nouvelle perspective sur le monde actuel en renversant certains de ses traits. Les dessins de Len Norris sur le bilinguisme montrent un monde carnavalesque. Dans les légendes ses personnages offrent des commentaires sur notre monde et captent le parcoureur, qui doit avouer que ces bouffons ont remarqué ce qui nous avait échappé. Les optiques sémiologiques de Greimas et d'Angenot permettent d'éclairer et de situer le modèle linguistique de Norris, et son avertissement qu'une nouvelle lingua franca fédérate est en train de remplacer symboliquement et le français et l'anglais. Editorial cartoons are a metalanguage for discourse about the social order. They create imaginary worlds which allow a fresh perspective on the present world by inverting certain of its features. Len Norris' cartoons on bilingualism portray a zany imaginary world, whose characters comment in the captions on our world and trap the skimmer into admitting that these fools have noticed something which we have missed. Greimas' and Angenot's semiotic approaches serve to elicit and situate Norris' elaborate model of language skills, and his message about the symbolic replacement of both French and English by federal bilingualese.