Hand in Hand zum Erfolg?!

This contribution deals with the relevance of the employee??s personality for brand relationship quality in the service sector. The necessity for employees of being conform to a brand to strengthen its image makes the fit between the employee and the brand personality of special interest regarding this study. The so developed causal model is evaluated by conducting an empirical study whereby one of the leading financial institutes in Germany serves as study object. Results show a high relevance of Love/Passion, Intimacy and Partner Quality for brand loyalty. Further, these dimensions of the relationship quality are determined by the fit between brand personality and employee personality with regard to the aspect competence and sincerity. The relations between the personality fit constructs and the influenced dimensions of brand relationship quality are intensified by a positive consumer evaluation of the employees with regard to the relevant personality traits.     

A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING/LEARNING MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY

A computer technology known as Group Support Systems (GSS) was pilot tested in a doctoral marital and family therapy (MFT) course to explore its usefulness in teaching/learning marital and family therapy. GSS allowed participants to combine face-to-face interaction with dialogue structured by GSS on personal computers. Through linked computers, each participant contributed to group discussions both simultaneously and anonymously. GSS was used to discuss a videotape, to conduct two role plays, and to write this paper. GSS was found to improve brain-storming, enhance collaboration, reduce hierarchical status among participants, increase self-reflection, create a trusting environment, and promote group-supported active learning. Recommendations for further MFT teaching, research, and application of GSS are presented.     

A Branch and Cut solver for the maximum stable set problem

This paper deals with the cutting-plane approach to the maximum stable set problem. We provide theoretical results regarding the facet-defining property of inequalities obtained by a known project-and-lift-style separation method called edge-projection, and its variants. An implementation of a Branch and Cut algorithm is described, which uses edge-projection and two other separation tools which have been discussed for other problems: local cuts (pioneered by Applegate, Bixby, Chvátal and Cook) and mod-k cuts. We compare the performance of this approach to another one by Rossi and Smiriglio (Oper. Res. Lett. 28:63–74, 2001) and discuss the value of the tools we have tested.     

What is the “right” market orientation for new entrepreneurial ventures?

A general notion in research on entrepreneurial marketing is that new ventures that adopt both strong market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation outperform other firms. The present research provides a more fine-grained analysis of this common wisdom. First, while extant research focuses on responsive market orientation, this research seeks to differentiate responsive from proactive market orientations in young ventures. Second, the study examines the moderating effects of the degree of entrepreneurial orientation on proactive and responsive market orientation’s performance consequences in the context of new ventures since these ventures must understand which orientations are worth pursuing, especially given their resource constraints. The theoretically developed research model is tested using survey data of 259 ventures in operation less than fifteen years from five national cultures in order to detect national dependencies and establish the robustness of the findings. Recommendations concerning which type of market orientation entrepreneurial and less entrepreneurial new ventures should follow are provided.     

REDISTRIBUTION,PORK, AND ELECTIONS

Why might citizens vote against redistributive policies from which they would seem to benefit? Many scholars focus on ‘wedge’ issues such as religion or race, but another explanation might be geographically‐based patronage—or pork. We examine the tension between redistribution and patronage with a model that combines partisan elections across multiple districts with legislation in spatial and divide‐the‐dollar environments. The model yields a unique equilibrium that describes the circumstances under which poor voters support right‐wing parties that favor low taxes and redistribution, and under which rich voters support left‐wing parties that favor high taxes and redistribution. The model suggests that one reason standard tax and transfer models of redistribution often do not capture empirical reality is that redistributive transfers are a less efficient tool for attracting votes than are more targeted policy programs. The model also underlines the central importance of party discipline during legislative bargaining in shaping the importance of redistribution in voter behavior, and it describes why right‐wing parties should have an advantage over left‐wing ones in majoritarian systems.     

Changes in parental leave and young children’s non-cognitive skills

Review of Economics of the Household - This study examines the effect of substantial changes in parental leave regulations on the non-cognitive development of children aged between 0 and 3 years. I...     

Portraits of work: mapping emerging coworking dynamics

ABSTRACT

Today’s patterns of work are very much defined by the ‘lean enterprise’ practice, taking form in organizations that are more competitive, customer-driven and agile on the one hand (Womack, J. P., & Jones, D. T. (2007). Lean Solutions. New York: Simon & Schuster), and the separation of work from time and space on the other (Hochschild, A. (1997). The time bind. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books). Concepts like work and workspace are subject to an evolving nature and get a new meaning (Kirsh, D. (2000). A few thoughts on cognitive overload. Intellectia, 1(30), 19–51). This triggered the rise of new working spaces, fuelled by the aftermath of the global economic crisis that transformed the practices and meanings of work. Nevertheless, this applies only to particular sectors. This paper builds on the case of Genk, an important economic pole in the Limburg Region of Belgium. The development in the region has always been related to labour-intensive industrial activities. In light of these working shifts targeting mainly big companies/employers, Genk has turned a blind eye on the local proprietors. What about the small entrepreneurs/community economies addressing mainly the local clientele? What evolution do we see in their working pattern? By using a specific visualization tool, a series of interviews were conducted in order to explore in a playful way, existing social and economic networks. The interviews reveal networks that shape a coworking model. The paper will further present the scale of this ‘coworking’ phenomenon experienced in Genk, perceived to be the ‘new model of coworking’ in the context of the collaborative and sharing economy.     

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Decision support systems (DSSs) are more complex than most other traditional decision-aid systems. For what types of problems are they more effective, and what design characteristics make them more effective? The laboratory experiment reported here examined the effect of three design characteristics of these systems in the context of decision makers faced with ill-structured problems. The characteristics were presence or absence of decision-aid heuristics, degree of interaction between the user and the system, and whether or not the system was computerized. The dependent variables were (1) quality of user performance, (2) user productivity of ideas, (3) user confidence in the quality of his/her performance, (4) user satisfaction with the decision aid or support system, (5) changes in user attitude toward the problem addressed, and (6) changes in user attitude toward computers. Use of heuristics and increased interaction had positive effects on decision quality, user productivity, and attitude toward computers; they had negative effects on user confidence, satisfaction, and attitude toward the problem addressed. Whether or not the system was computerized did not have a significant effect on any dependent variable. The findings concerning negative effects, in particular, suggest the need for research on the design of heuristics for addressing ill-structured problems—heuristics that will deliver the positive but not the negative effects observed in this study. The findings also suggest the need for research on how to benefit from computers in the context of solving ill-structured problems.