Services culture: A matrix to measure diversity

Services culture differs from goods manufacturing in that customer and employee subcultures are more relevant inputs. The cultural model appears to be structurationist and bottoms-up rather than monolithic and corporate. Analogies with international business suggest adaptation of the Farmer-Richman matrix as a “culture scale” for services. The paper discusses organizational culture, services “differentness,” and the matrix. A hypothetical example drawn from the Citibank case illustrates application of the matrix to a services firm.     

Trends in Alcohol Consumption Among Undergraduate Students at a Northeastern Public University, 2002–2008

Abstract

Objective: This study examined alcohol consumption patterns and trends at a public university in the Northeast from 2002 to 2008. Participants: Stratified random sampling was used to select undergraduate students enrolled in courses during spring semesters in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. Methods: Data were collected during regularly scheduled classes for 4 measures of alcohol consumption and 5 demographic categories using the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey. Results: Four groups showed significant increases in both frequency and volume of alcohol consumption—students who were female, over 21 years of age or over, living off-campus, or performing well academically. There were no decreasing trends for any demographic group. These results differ from national college health surveys, which have shown alcohol use remaining steady during this period. Conclusions: Campus-specific trend data can provide unique perspectives and guide programming efforts. These trends suggest a need for new intervention strategies on this campus.     

The relationship between unit diversity and perceptions of organizational performance in the military

Structural equation modeling techniques are used to examine the relationship between demographic diversity and perceptions of organizational performance in military units. Analyzing data from the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey reveals higher female and minority representation reduces females’ and minorities’ perceptions of organizational effectiveness, respectively. Identical factors appear to influence the perceptions of organizational performance across these two subgroups of employees. The results demonstrate the importance of conducting separate analyses for subgroups in examining the effects of demographic diversity on organizational performance.     

White ‘ladies’, coloured ‘favourites’ and black ‘wenches’; some considerations on sex,race and class factors in social relations in white Creole Society in the British Caribbean

The Formation of a Planter Elite: Jonathan Bryan and the Southern Colonial Frontier. By Alan Gallay. Athens &; London: University of Georgia Press, 19S9, xx, 282 pp. $35.00.

Unification of a Slave State: The Rise of the Planter Class in the South Carolina Backcountry, 1760–1808. By Rachel N. Klein. Chapel Hill &; London: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1990. vii, 331 pp. $34.95.

Women and Sisters: Antislavery Feminists in American Culture. By Jean Fagan Yellin. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. ix, 226 pp. £20.00/$29.95.

Virtue's Hero: Emerson, Antislavery, and Reform. By Lengougeon. Athens and London: University of Georgia Press. 1990. xiii, 408 pp. $45.00.

Race and Revolution. By Gary B. Nash. Madison: Madison House, 1990. 212pp. $27.95.

Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery. Edited by B.A. Botkin. Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 1990. xl, 297 pp. $14.95 (paper).

Religion and the Radical Republican Movement 1860–1870. By Victor B. Howard. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1990. 297 pp. $32.00.

Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920. By Willard B. Gatewood. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1990. cii; 450 pp. $39.95.

Slavery in the Circuit of Sugar: Martinique and the World Economy, 1830–1848. By Dale W. Tomich. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. xiv, 353pp.

Indenture and Exile: The Indo‐Caribbean Experience. Edited by Frank Birbal‐Singh. Tsar, Toronto, 1989. 264 pp. £10.00.     

Effects of data breaches from user-generated content: A corporate reputation analysis

A threat for a growing number of firms in various industries is the occurrence of different breaches of sensitive corporate data. These critical events represent vulnerability for firms' corporate reputations, whose multiple dimensions are affected by customers negative perceptions in various ways. Further, in the Industry 4.0 era, the redundancy of scandals on social media can exacerbate negative effects. This paper reports an investigation into the effects of data breaches on corporate reputation dimensions. In this context, the study conducted latent Dirichlet allocation analysis on social media user-generated content (UGC) for a sample of 35 firms in nine industries that suffered a data breach incident between 2013 and 2016. Incidents have been categorized into three categories: “intentional and internal,” “unintentional and internal,” and “intentional and external” data breaches. The aim of the study was to discover how reputational dimensions changed after these critical events and to identify the differences among the types of data breaches.Results reveal that after critical events, more reputational dimensions appear to be relevant. While before critical events, users typically discuss the “perceived quality” of a firm's offer, after all three types of data breaches, users also pay attention to “customer orientation” and “corporate performance” dimensions. Another key reputation dimension, especially after intentional and internal data breaches, is the “firm as employer,” particularly in the context of a lack of investment in training regarding these events.These findings provide key insights for academics and practitioners to understand large-scale data breaches effects and reputational drawbacks after such incidents.     

Socio-educational work in at-risk contexts and professional reflexivity: the multi-vision group of “Maestri di Strada”

ABSTRACT

The Association ‘Maestri di Strada’ (MdS) undertakes socio-educational interventions to promote the well-being of young people in the ‘high-risk’ suburbs of Naples. The socio-educational work is not a mere ‘technical-rational’ activity and it relies on the use of ‘self’, which is not an unlimited resource. MdS places great emphasis upon reflexivity after the action and adopts the ‘Multi-Vision Group’ (MVG), which is a modified Balint group, as a support mechanism for its staff. Before trainees begin working, they attend the MVGs, observe them, and provide narrative accounts of the process. In this study, 61 reports prepared by the trainees during an academic year underwent a textual analysis. The aim was to evaluate the reflexive function of the group and the results indicate that, within the MVG, the practitioners express emotions, doubts, and difficulties linked to the job and its high-risk contexts. They show both self-awareness and awareness of the importance of the team, thinking as a community in a cooperative way. These are features related to reflexivity, which is recognised as being crucial for practice; the process of observation and recording also has a high educational importance for the trainees and social work students.     

Peers,proactivity, and problem-solving: A multilevel study of team impacts on stress appraisals of problem-solving demands

ABSTRACT

To date, there is a paucity of research on team-level impacts on the individual stress appraisal process despite the recognised role of teams for solving problems. Applying a multilevel approach, this study investigates the cross-level impact of team problem prevention behaviours on employee stress appraisals of problem-solving demands. It was hypothesised that team problem prevention would moderate the individual-level relationship between problem-solving demands and stress appraisals. Data were collected from 43 work teams comprised of 192 team members including all team leaders who also provided evaluations of their team’s problem prevention behaviour. Results supported the hypothesised cross-level moderating effects on challenge appraisal, but not threat appraisal. As one of the first studies to demonstrate that stress appraisals are impacted by the group, not just by individual factors, the results support a multilevel conceptualisation of stress appraisals. The findings also highlight implications for practice, broadening the scope of possibilities for stress management interventions to utilise team-level strategies such as leadership development programmes and/or team building initiatives.     

Social constructions of fatness: legal proceedings in Canada as a case in point

This article uses reports of cases of Canadian legal processes to explore social constructions of fatness as disability, as well as illness, cultural aesthetic, and blame. The review of cases in Canadian human rights, civil, administrative, and employment law suggests that fatness has been constructed as a disability in Canadian law. This has led to favourable outcomes for fat persons seeking redress for discrimination. Illness, cultural aesthetic, and blame also surface as recurrent themes. To consider all four themes, a concept of mythopoeia – myth-making process – is introduced. This adds to models of social construction by focusing on where ‘un-reality’ is constructed in a non-hierarchical view of marginal identities. Fatness constructions/mythopoeia of disability, illness, cultural aesthetic, and blame overlap as well as diverge. This suggests that fatness may be an incomplete fit with current classifications in human rights law.