Does state ownership really matter? The dynamic alignment of China's resource environment and firm internationalization strategies

Recent research suggests that unequal access to home country institutional resources affects firm internationalization strategies. We add to this debate, based on an analysis of state-owned (SOEs) and non-state-owned (NSOEs) Chinese mining firms, by developing a more dynamic and multi-layered understanding of this interplay. We find that home institutional support can be ownership-based or performance-based, whereby the former benefits SOEs and the latter favors high-performing NSOEs. Combined, these support structures serve as institutional control mechanisms in promoting competition, performance and loyalty to national policies. In addition, they establish a permanent link between firm- and home country-specific assets and incentivize firms to develop dynamic resource access capabilities at home and abroad. Our findings inform our understanding of the firms-institutions nexus and Chinese foreign direct investment dynamics, especially in industries of strategic importance to the state.     

Employer Wage Differentials in Germany: A Comparative Note

The paper contributes to the growing empirical literature on employer wage differentials, presenting first estimates for West Germany and comparing them with recent findings from other studies for the USA, France and Denmark. The empirical results show that the variation of global employer wage differentials is comparatively low in West Germany and has remained stable during the first half of the 1990s. This low dispersion results from wage setting for blue‐collar workers, while cross‐country differences are negligible for white‐collar workers. Employer wage differentials have, however, become more important for the remuneration of West German blue‐collar workers during the period investigated.     

Die symbolische Macht der Individualisierung und der Kampf um die Kritik

In the article we highlight an aspect of the crisis of criticism which we call ??speechlessness of criticism??. The heterogeneous criticism cannot be bundled up to a critical story any more. A common language with explicatory pictures and grammars is missing. Two explanations are offered for the ??speechlessness?? of criticism: the changes of the normative power of justification orders and the individualisation process. Both developments are a symbolic power which can explain the speechlessness of the criticism of capitalism at least partially. After the sketch of the symbolic power of the legitimation order of project and individualisation, starting points for a renaissance of criticism are analysed. Finally we explore the relevance of a reflexive combination of critical sociology and sociology of criticism for the concept of a critical sociology of criticism.     

Walk-in Together: A pilot study of a walk-in online family therapy intervention

Many Australians are requiring mental health care, including families, leading to long wait times in order to access support. Walk-in therapy reduces barriers to mental health support services by providing support at the time that families seek help. This paper presents a proof-of-concept study investigating the acceptability and short-term effectiveness of an online walk-in family therapy service, Walk-in Together (WIT). Part 1 of the paper describes the experiences of 44 family members from 22 families who presented to a public family therapy clinic for a virtual walk-in family therapy session. The session was conducted by a team of three experienced family therapists. Family members' experiences were sought pre-session, post-session, and at 6 weeks follow-up via survey and interview. Part 2 of the paper explores therapist perceptions (n = 7) of the WIT approach, through thematic analysis of semi-structured interview data. Post-session feedback showed 85% of family members found WIT to be helpful and 50% were optimistic about their future as a family after their WIT session. Six weeks post-session it was revealed that WIT supported planning for families in equipping them to move forward with 88% of family members reporting that they knew what to do after the session. All therapists uniformly experienced the model as offering a timely and beneficial service, suitable for diverse presentations and constellations of families. These preliminary results suggest the significant utility of this WIT intervention as a well-received and helpful service for families, who valued the easy access and rapid therapeutic response afforded by the online, walk-in delivery model. This proof-of-concept paper suggests the potential for further development and growth of WIT, as well as other mental health support services using a walk-in, telehealth model to meet the rising demand for therapeutic support for families in distress.     

Institutional theory-based research on corporate social responsibility: Bringing values back in

Research applying institutional theory to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has experienced remarkable momentum. Institutional theory-based CSR research illustrates the role of values in guiding both agentic choices for CSR and the influence of institutional structures on CSR agency. Although values have been explored in this literature, systematic studies of values that seek to gain insights into the mutual relationship between agentic choices and structures are lacking. Such insights are crucial for exploring whether and how CSR is enabled or constrained. We thus ask two interrelated questions: (1) What is the role of values in institutional theory-based CSR research? (2) How and along which avenues should future institutional theory-based CSR research that focuses on values be mobilised? Based on our analysis of this line of literature from 1989 until 2021, first, we take stock of established institutional theory perspectives on CSR and disentangle what role values have played in this literature. Second, we outline how to mobilise values in future institutional CSR research based on four promising but under-investigated areas. From our literature analysis, two central functions emerge (which we label ‘bridging’ and ‘referencing’) that values can perform in the institutional analysis of CSR. Based on these two functions, our values-focused framework will help scholars examine the moral foundations that inform business–society interactions as well as understand how companies can responsibly manage those interactions with societal stakeholders.     

A note on the asymptotic distribution of a Perron-type innovational outlier unit root test with a break

This note provides the asymptotic distribution of a Perron-type innovational outlier unit root test developed by Popp (J Stat Comput Sim 78:1145–1161, 2008) in case of a shift in the intercept for non-trending data. In Popp (J Stat Comput Sim 78:1145–1161, 2008), only critical values for finite samples based on Monte Carlo techniques are tabulated. Using similar arguments as in Zivot and Andrews (J Bus Econ Stat 10:251–270, 1992), weak convergence is shown for the test statistics.     

Moving on from ramps? The utility of the social model of disability for facilitating experiences of nature for disabled children

Experiences of nature have been shown to be beneficial for disabled children; however, opportunities for disabled children to experience nature are often limited. The social model of disability may provide a theoretical base for increasing access to nature for pupils at Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools. Using results from interviews conducted with teachers from seven SEN schools, considered alongside responses from interviews with staff from six environmental centres, this paper seeks to identify the specific constraints that may act upon the opportunities for disabled pupils to visit environmental centres. The research finds that a ‘medicalised’ approach to access may impede upon environmental centres’ ability to cater effectively to the needs of SEN school groups. Dialogue between environmental centres and SEN school teachers is recommended as a means of facilitating SEN school group access.     

Jenseits der Regelbarkeit? Nutzung Informeller Dynamiken von Kommunikation und Gruppenrollen zur Steuerung virtueller Gruppen

Communication and team structure are of fundamental relevance for the guidance of virtual collaboration: for diagnosis and analysis of existing structures, surveillance and evaluation as well as deliberate intervention and solving conflicts. In particular for managing pending changes, knowledge about internal group dynamics is utterly helpful, to take the interests of all participants within the realm of possibility into account, utilise internal synergies und minimize efforts and resistance in this way. In this study communication- and group structure of teams in virtual inter- and intraorganizational networks have been investigated. Besides the formal roles, the informal roles within the teams have also been identified with the aid of sociometric items. These have been related to both formal and informal communication to analyse possible correlations between the team roles and its communication.     

Kooperation bei Großschadensereignissen

In cases of major emergencies a whole range of organizations has to cooperate quickly and efficiently. This situation poses a challenge to cooperation and communication. The article sketches some problem areas typical for the cooperation in disaster situations which have been identified in interviews with representatives of the organizations involved, by participatory observation and in a survey of the relevant literature. These problem areas are analyzed against the background of systems-theoretical considerations on cooperation in organizational networks. On this basis the authors develop a multi-level counselling model for improving the cooperation in major emergencies.