"Queering" development: exploring the links between same-sex sexualities,gender, and development

This article argues that enhancement of gender and development policy and practice requires embracing of the challenges to conventional definitions of sex and gender. Information presented here was based on the insights from cultural studies and experiences of lesbian and gay activists from China. Focusing on same-sex sexuality in relation to gender and development requires the analysis of the link between the sexual behavior and economic and political freedom. Likewise, stereotyping of those opposing the gender norms exists as well as the degradation of human rights among these individuals due to the increasing threat of HIV/AIDS infection. Furthermore, reluctance to address questions of sexuality could be attributed to the following: the right to intervene in the local culture; the notion that homosexuality originated in the West; and the reluctance to bring a ?developmental machine? into their intimate lives. A new approach to sexuality, ?queer theory,? was found beneficial in changing the attitude of the society. Carrying out this approach would require targeting homosexual groups for support; adapting perceptions of the community, household, and family; integrating homosexuality into health, education, and youth work; and institutionalizing homosexuality. The author emphasizes that the adaptation of the ?queer theory? could provide a solution for activists to engage in a process of mutual support and learning and taking on the common obstacles posed by the oppressive gender norms.     

Lesbian Identity Management at Various Stages of the Coming Out Process: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study is designed to explore how women at various stages of lesbian identity development make decisions about managing their identities. Management of identity was studied in terms of how women came out or stayed hidden and how they made decisions both to disclose and to conceal. The Cass (1984) Stage Allocation Measure was used as a means to categorize women at various stages of lesbian identity development. Twenty-five adult women were individually interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. A journal was kept by each woman for one month. The major findings indicated that women at different stages of lesbian identity development use both disparate and similar identity-management and decision-making strategies. Underlying and connecting lesbian identity management and development was the need to maintain self-esteem and safety.     

Conditioning factors for fertility decline in Bengal: history, language identity, and openness to innovations

This article argues that looking solely for the immediate causes of reproductive change may distort our understanding of policy options by failing to take into account the historical and cultural factors that affect not only the impact of policies and programs but their very nature and existence. The article examines the historical origins and spread of “modern” ideas in Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. It concludes that a colonial history in which education and modernization processes took hold very early among the elites in the larger Bengal region was paradoxically accompanied by a strong allegiance to the Bengali language. This strong sense of language identity has facilitated and reinforced the diffusion of modern ideas both within and between the two Bengali‐speaking regions. Thus, to understand the fertility decline in Bangladesh, for example, one needs to look also at cultural boundaries. In this case, the cultural commonality through language facilitates the spread of new ideas across the two Bengals. In turn, the strong sense of language identity has facilitated mass mobilization more easily and intensely within the two Bengals. Shaped by these processes, Bangladesh and West Bengal today are more amenable to social change than many other parts of South Asia and the Middle East.     

Cross-national differences in work-nonwork conflict

The present study examines the level of work-nonwork conflict found in eight countries categorized by value dimensions of individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity. Results indicate that masculine/collectivist countries have the lowest level of work-nonwork conflict. In addition, it was found that in masculine/collectivist countries, the work role dominates over the nonwork role.     

Who Holds the Stakes? A Case Study of Stakeholder Identification at Two Nuclear Weapons Production Sites

Traditional risk assessments, including those involving the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), are often criticized for producing useless or noncredible management responses because they did not meaningfully involve the public. The first step to involve the public is to identify appropriate active participants (stakeholders). This study was done to understand the processes used to identify stakeholders to serve on advisory boards established at the two largest remediation sites in the United States: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The Hanford stakeholder identification process produced an interest-based board whereas the Savannah River Site strategy produced population-based representation. The basic goals of the stakeholder advisory groups were similar. However, different processes were used to identify the participants for the groups in part because of distinctly different social and cultural conditions in the areas affected by the operations of the two facilities, and in part because of the different level of trust of the USDOE and their contractors at Hanford compared with Savannah River. The discussion analyzes their different needs and potential for successful citizen participation.     

Matching Managers to Strategy: Further Tests of the Miles and Snow Typology

This paper integrates prior research on strategic leadership by building on the concept of alignment to explain the performance impact of top managers. Using the Miles and Snow (1978) typology as a theoretical framework, several hypotheses are tested on a sample drawn from three distinct industries. The results show that organizations that are able to achieve an alignment between managerial characteristics and strategic direction perform better than firms where such an alignment is absent. Further, it was found that the strategy-manager match explains a greater proportion of variance in performance than industry membership, organizational age and firm size. Taken together, these findings provide persuasive evidence about the impact that an organization's leaders exert in driving performance outcomes and demonstrates the validity of the administrative dimension of the Miles and Snow typology.     

Synergy from configuration of global production networks: drivers,mechanisms, and outcomes

Abstract

This paper explores the network synergies available from the configuration of highly dispersed, global production networks (GPNs). Synergy theory from the literature on intra-firm and inter-firm GPNs is examined in terms of drivers, mechanisms and outcomes. An explanatory model is developed and enriched via a series of extended case studies of firms undertaking re-configuration of their GPNs during the period 2003–2014. The primary finding is that firms create synergy in their GPNs by selecting specific configuration mechanisms, in response to a certain set of external drivers, in order to achieve certain synergistic outcomes. The paper classifies the main types of drivers, mechanisms and outcomes in terms of key variables and discusses their inter-connections and relationships.     

Knowledge sharing for innovation performance improvement in micro/SMEs: an insight from the creative sector

Abstract

As economies become more reliant on innovative, knowledge-intensive firms, understanding the interaction between knowledge and improving innovation performance is increasingly important. Although most UK businesses are micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (micro/SMEs), knowledge management research has tended to focus on large companies Knowledge sharing can be critical for innovation performance, especially for smaller players with limited resources. Our study presents an insight from micro/SMEs operating in the highly knowledge-intensive and innovative games/entertainment software development sector. Using a mixed method approach, we investigate knowledge sharing and its contribution to firm innovation performance improvements. Our findings suggest that micro/SMEs are at the forefront of the creative sector precisely because of their smaller size. Our study reveals evidence of knowledge donation but limited evidence of knowledge collection in the knowledge sharing process. We develop a model highlighting the importance of industry context, individual knowledge and organizational size in knowledge sharing for innovation performance.     

Measurement of the effect of wool advertising

The paper reports a recent International Wool Secretariat (I.W.S.) study to measure the overall effect on sales of fibre advertising, based on annual data for eight major wool-consuming countries, collected from 1960 to 1970. An economic model of the fibre market is set up, and multiple linear regression is used to demonstrate a significant positive relationship between fibre sales and advertising. The effect of wool advertising is quantified, using the estimated regression coefficients, and its cost is compared with the estimated benefits to the wool industry in terms of increased revenue. Possible drawbacks of the approach described are considered, and aspects of the work requiring further study are also mentioned.