Organizational Pathways for Social Innovation and Societal Impacts in Disability Nonprofits

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Using data from a sample of 301 Australian disability nonprofit organizations (NPOs), this study applies configurational...     

Solving the Economic Lot-Scheduling Problem Using the Method of Prime Subperiods

In recent years the reported successes of Japanese production systems, particularly the just-in-time approach to inventory control, has caused managers to focus more of their attention on efficient decision-making procedures for determining production schedules that minimize inventory costs. One such potential area of attention is the economic lot-scheduling problem (ELSP), which occurs in a variety of manufacturing environments where machining operations are prevalent. The economic lot-scheduling problem addresses the determination of lot sizes for N products with constant demand (and cycled through one machine with a given production rate) to minimize setup and inventory costs. The most successful solution approaches to the ELSP have been based on the concept of a basic period that is of sufficient length for the production of all items, even though each item might not be produced during each repetition of the basic period. This paper proposes a heuristic approach to the solution of the ELSP (referred to as the method of prime subperiods), which is an extension of the basic period approaches. The procedure is described and demonstrated via an example and then tested using a set of six example problems previously employed in the literature related to the ELSP. The results indicate as good or superior performance by the proposed method of prime subperiods.     

Bad Boys and School Suspensions: Public Policy Implications for Black Males

The focus of this research is the disciplinary policy of school suspension and its effect on black male students. We examined the application of public school suspensions by race and sex in an integrated school district in the southeastern portion of the United States. Data for the study were compiled from oficial records housed in the administrative complex for the entire school district. The suspensions cover one academic year from September of 1983 through June of 1984. During this period of time black males were disproportionately suspended in both the elementary and secondary schools. This finding is consistent with other research noting that black students, and in particular black male students, are disproportionately affected by the various policies of public schools. We then discuss the implications of these findings for black males. Policies which limit educational opportunities for black males increase the probability of their need for welfare services, incarceration in prisons, and commitment to mental hospitals. Our conclusion is that the policy of suspending problem students is not only an effort by elementary and secondary school administrators and faculty to remove bad boys but is also one of several policies which limit educational opportunities for black males.     

The inflation-unemployment trade-offs of union members

Social preference functions between inflation and unemployment are estimated for individuals classified by union status using Gallup Poll presidential popularity data. We expected union members to assign higher weights to unemployment and lower weights to inflation than those who are not union members, but we found the reverse. Union members weight unemployment relative to inflation less than nonunion members because they weight unemployment less. Given the emphasis that trade union leaders place on reducing unemployment rather than inflation, this suggests a divergence in views between union leaders and the rank and file. The authors are indebted to Jeff Moore and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Any remaining errors are our own. Smyth’s research was aided by the LSU Foundation.     

Importance of Land,family and culture for a good life: Remote Aboriginal people with disability and carers

Worldwide health and social outcomes of Indigenous people are poorer than those of non-Indigenous. In Australia, the Indigenous population experience disability at more than twice the rate of the non-Indigenous population, and a quarter live in geographically remote areas. The challenges associated with accessing services and supports in remote communities can impact on a good life for Aboriginal people with disability. Interviews were conducted with Aboriginal people (An angu) with disability and family carers from remote Central Australian communities and service workers. Thematic data analysis determined factors An angu viewed as essential to living a good life: connection to their Lands, being with family and engaging in cultural activities. Workers' support for a good life involves “Proper Way” help and an understanding of An angu culture. Three culturally relevant strengths-based concepts are important in supporting An angu with disability to live a good life: being connected to the Lands and family, sharing together and working together.     

A Feminist Critique of Japanization: Employment and Work in Consumer Electronics

The debate over lean production and Japanization has now matured, with a broad range of perspectives and analysis. Through analysis of the central role women’s labour plays in Japanese‐owned enterprises, this article will provide a critical discussion of Japanization. Japanization is neither a sufficient explanation of the nature of workplaces in which women work, nor a necessary goal for labour management in Japanese‐owned enterprises. Using extensive ethnographic field research drawn from studies in Japan and the UK in Japanese‐owned enterprises and a European‐owned enterprise engaged in television assembly, this article argues that there is no aspect of it which it would be appropriate to label Japanization.     

Putting the critique back into a Critique of Information: refusing to follow the order

This paper argues that Scott Lash's Critique of Information is one of the most important works of the new informational order: the Order. However, despite its comprehensive and insightful analysis, it illustrates a common trend amongst theorists whereby the inherent pessimism of their arguments' logic tends to be replaced by an unwarranted optimism regarding their conclusions. This criticism is applied to Lash's critique, which is further supplemented by a rejection of Lash's argument that the transcendent perspective necessary for critical theory has been supplanted in the information age by an immanent all-at-onceness. The much more negative perceptions of the social and cultural effects of the Order to be found within literature and cultural history are defended as valuable sources of critical perspectives that may still help to aid theory as it struggles to keep up with the Order's discombobulating flows.     

Understanding communities today: using matching needs and services to assess community needs and design community-based services

Matching Needs and Services (MNS) is a practice tool intended to help people who work with vulnerable children use rigorously assembled information on needs as a guide to design, implement, and evaluate more-effective services. To do this, MNS focuses on needs but links them to outcomes and thresholds before dealing with the services to achieve those outcomes.     

Becoming the professors of lesbian love

We tell here our all-too-unusual story of living and working together, reflecting on both the obstacles and the forces that made it possible for us to find each other, stay together, and develop a collaborative working relationship. Despite experiencing various forms of discrimination, we have been able over the years to contribute to the creation of a queer community through hiring lesbian colleagues, attracting lesbian and gay students, participating in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement, and advocating social justice for women and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in our respective professional associations. This is the story of becoming the "professors of lesbian love," a title bestowed upon us by the drag queens we studied in our most recent joint project.