A dynamic social-ecological model of generational identity in the workplace

We approach generational identity in the workplace as a social identity simultaneously linked to biological and historical location. We outline a dynamic social-ecological model of generational identity in which various levels of influences shape the potential for and manifestation of generational identities in the workplace. We propose that individual generational identity in the workplace is influenced by the interaction of four levels of factors: the workgroup, where generational identity is triggered; the organization, which structures the context in which work-related generational identity takes shape; the extra-organizational environment, which sets the general parameters for generational interactions with occupational and stakeholder groups; and society, where generational phenomena are manifested as historical social movements and depicted as mass media narratives. We examine each of these levels of influence and offer propositions, guided by social identity, self-categorization theory, fault line theory, and generational theory, to elucidate what each level of influence contributes to a fulsome understanding of generation as a complex phenomenon. This approach to generational identity in the workplace highlights the influences that serve as pre-conditions for generational conflict in organizations.     

"Engines Of Acculturation": The Last Political Generation of Jewish Women in Interwar East Europe

This study explores the formation of a political generation of Jewish women in interwar East Europe. Based on questionnaire data obtained from the Survivors of the Ravensbrueck Concentration Camp for Women and on secondary historical materials, it applied Mannheim's theory of political generations and the conditions for the formation of "generational units" under the impression of "fresh contact" in order to examine the role of class, education, and religiosity in the formation of political generations. Under the specific socio–historical circumstances analyzed, it is argued that Jewish women who came of age in interwar East Europe formed, perhaps for the first time a distinct political generation, as evidenced by high rates of political participation and assimilation into the thriving secular nationalistic culture of their time.     

你的对手满意吗？

笔者的一位MBA学员最近讲了个故事,说明确保谈判对手的满意是何等重要。有两位顾客在该学员的家用电器商店购物。一位顾客买了几样家电,然后索要离谱的折扣——实际上,折扣离谱到商店几乎赚不到钱。虽然如此,该顾客还是怏怏地离开了商店,认为自己一次买     

No Longer Complacent?: Why Israeli Women Did Not Rebel

Why did Israeli women not fight for social equality until the late 1980s? And what changed their individual and collective willingness to act? The paper maintains that social action to improve women’s positions in society didexist before the late 1980s but it was mostly not rebellious in the sense that it was not directed against men or the existing social order. The main factor behind the in[action is the lack of feminist ideologies that affect and support gender identities. This kind of feminist gender identity was inhibited in Israel by the inter-relations among three factors: (1) the lack of ideological pluralism, (2) the influence of traditional and religious beliefs, and (3) the effect of national, total, and masculine institutions (like the Israeli army). The same factors—or some combinations of these factors—may inhibit women’s activism in other societies as well.     

Countermeasures for night work performance deficits: The effect of napping or caffeine on continuous performance at night

Napping and caffeine consumption, two common strategies for improving alertness and performance on the night shift, were investigated in two separate studies. Performance was measured with a simulated assembly line task (SALT) during a single night work shift. Both strategies proved beneficial. Performance and subjective alertness were improved following either a 2.3-h evening nap or ingestion of caffeine (4 mg/kg) prior to the work shift. The effects were noted particularly at the trough of circadian alertness. Although neither napping nor caffeine countered the strong circadian influence on performance and alertness in the early morning hours, both strategies attenuated their sharp decline. Further research is required to determine the generalizability of these findings beyond a single night shift and in different populations of workers, such as older age groups, or chronic caffeine users.     

Akinetic model of population dynamics

The relations between fertility, mortality, growth rate and age distribution in closed populations have been derived by means of a set of differential equations based on the well known theory of chemical kinetics. The classical relations for stable populations are easily obtained in this model by simple algebraic manipulations. A rough but useful further simplification is to divide the population into three groups—pre-reproductive, reproductive, and post-reproductive. For this three-group model simple algebraic expressions connect fertility, mortality, growth rate and the fractions of the population in each group. Although the relations obtained are not precise, they serve to illustrate simply and directly the interactions among the basic population variables.