Transnationality – Sharpening the Integration-Responsiveness vision in global professional firms

The “transnational” (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1988, 1989) has become a popular organizational construct, and is increasingly relevant to contemporary global firms. However, there is very little empirical research on the organizational aspects of this form, and there is a lack of knowledge regarding the transnational aspects in professional service firm theorizing. Building on some fundamental organizational and international management literature, as well as an understanding of contemporary global professional firms, we expect that the transnational will exhibit specific organizational structural features with both high levels globalization and local responsiveness. We then proceed to describe an exploratory study of ten global engineering firms—this context is important since engineering firms are far less tied to national (local) jurisdictions than are other professional firms. Our findings reveal that the leadership/management areas were largely globally integrated, the hiring/HR functions were singularly locally oriented, while the other organizational areas we studied – namely structure/process and project teams – exhibited both global and local features. These findings extend professional service firm theorizing, exposing the balance between axes of specialisation, norms of reciprocity and customer management system; to include organizational features that allow a balance between the globally integrated and locally responsive.     

Vegetation changes at sub-xeric urban forest edges in Finland – the effects of edge aspect and trampling

The relative strengths of the effects of forest edges and recreational use on understorey vegetation were studied at sub-xeric boreal urban forest edges in the greater Helsinki region, Finland. The study was performed at northern, eastern, southern and western edges, and vegetation sample plots were placed on, next to and away from paths with different trampling intensities 0–107 m from the forest edges. We found that human trampling altered vegetation more than the effects of forest edges. Vegetation changed dramatically on paths and the effects of path edges were seen in seemingly untrampled vegetation at least up to 4 m from the path edge. However, our results suggested that the effect of the edge may penetrate up to 50 m into forest interiors. Changes in vegetation composition indicated that the effects of the edge were stronger at eastern, southern and western than at northern edges.     

Item response theory analysis of the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening Scale

The focus of these analyses was to examine the psychometric properties of the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening Scale (LFDSS). The purpose of the screen was to evaluate the decisional abilities and vulnerability to exploitation of older adults. Adults aged 60 and over were interviewed by social, legal, financial, or health services professionals who underwent in-person training on the administration and scoring of the scale. Professionals provided a rating of the decision-making abilities of the older adult. The analytic sample included 213 individuals with an average age of 76.9 (SD = 10.1). The majority (57%) were female. Data were analyzed using item response theory (IRT) methodology. The results supported the unidimensionality of the item set. Several IRT models were tested. Ten ordinal and binary items evidenced a slightly higher reliability estimate (0.85) than other versions and better coverage in terms of the range of reliable measurement across the continuum of financial incapacity.     

The construction of communicative (in)competence in autism: a focus on methodological decisions

Research on people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (henceforth autism) is often based upon biomedical understanding. Such understanding tends to view the characteristics related to autism diagnosis, such as the lack of or atypical use of speech, as a sign of incompetence that can be reduced as an underlying pathology of an individual. However, little research has explicitly investigated how methodological decisions in research might influence the perception of these characteristics. This paper draws on two separate research cases involving minimally verbal children with autism to examine how methodological decisions in research design, data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation influence the construction of communicative (in)competence in these children. The paper encourages researchers to carefully consider and reflect on the methodological decisions they make throughout the research process.     

Kevin and Peter: responses to two ‘preventable deaths’

European welfare states have substantial provision to ensure that children are brought up in conditions that meet the articles of the United Nations’ Convention of the Rights of the Child. In our analysis of two preventable deaths in Germany and England, we focus primarily on Article 18, which directs states to ensure that there is adequate provision to support parents in their responsibilities, and Article 19, which ensures children’s safety and protection. We outline the legal framework, which existed at the time of two child deaths: Kevin from Bremen and Peter in London, both young children who were subject to formal state supervision and oversight. The events – including the press response, their aftermath and the subsequent changes to social work practice through legislation and guidance will be examined. Our subsequent analysis will evaluate the extent to which events altered the balance between Articles 18 and 19 in the two countries, and the extent to which a Children’s Rights approach in this area offers new insights. The analysis will suggest that a rights-based approach offers some benefits for a comparative framework and understanding child and family social work, but also that it is not without some difficulties.     

Écart salarial entre hommes et femmes au début de la vie active: mise en évidence dans un exemple allemand

Les auteurs recherchent l'écart salarial entre hommes et femmes dans une population de jeunes diplômés allemands, y compris selon la position dans la distribution des salaires. Ils décomposent cet écart par la méthode à indice des compétences de DiNardo, Fortin et Lemieux (1996) et Fortin et Lemieux (1998), faisant la part entre effet de dotation, effet de prix et effet du rendement des compétences. L'analyse fait apparaître une prime salariale masculine systématique, mais plus ou moins marquée selon le quantile. En outre, les effets de dotation et de prix favorisent les hommes, annulant l'influence d'un effet du rendement des compétences favorable aux femmes.     

Orphans at risk in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence on educational and health outcomes

Based on comparable data for eleven sub-Saharan African countries with especially high rates of orphanhood, we examine how orphanhood affects children’s educational and health outcomes. Using household fixed-effects to control for influences at the household level, we show that orphans do not only fare worse than non-orphans because they tend to live in poorer households, but that they are also at a disadvantage compared to non-orphans within the same household. They lag behind in education and are more often malnourished and stunted. (The coefficients on the health outcomes are only statistically significant for some of the countries and some of the health measures, however.) Moreover, we show that non-orphaned children not living with a biological parent are also worse off compared to biological children of the same caregivers. Educational gaps are particularly evident for children whose mother is deceased or absent. The additional effect of paternal death or absence is rather modest or insignificant in most countries.     

Methodological approaches to the analyses of elder abuse screening measures: Application of latent variable measurement modeling to the WC-RAPS

While several elder abuse screens exist, few measure risk and none target long-term support services. The aims were to examine the psychometric properties of the Weinberg Center Risk and Abuse Prevention Screen (WC-RAPS), comparing approaches to modeling self-reported risk and abuse in relation to reported Adult Protective Services contacts. Methods: The sample (n = 7,035), admissions to managed long-term care (79%) and short-term rehabilitation (20%), was primarily (66%) female, with mean age 77.6 (SD = 9.10); 7% each were African American and Latino and 12% Asian. Latent variable models were used to examine measurement properties of six indicators of abuse and five of risk. Results: Good model fit and stable subscale measurement models were observed across analyses. Reliability was >0.80 across methods, and concurrent criterion validity estimates were as expected. Conclusion: Evidence supported the reliability and concurrent criterion validity of the risk and abuse subscales in an ethnically diverse cohort.