Contraceptive self‐efficacy: A perspective on teenage girls' contraceptive behavior

This research investigated the relationship between the social‐psychological theory of self‐efficacy and teenage girls' contraceptive behavior. Data were obtained from 258 female clients, aged 20 or younger, of a family planning clinic. Four factors were extracted from the contraceptive self‐efficacy (CSE) scale developed for this investigation. Regression analyses were used to determine whether CSE scores distinguished patterns of contraceptive use when the effects of the influential demographic, sexual experience, and psychosocial variables were controlled. Two of the four CSE factors contributed significantly new information in accounting for the variance in the contraceptive use measure, semipartial R = .26, semipartial R² (4, 163) = .07, p < .01. The relationship between study variables and the four CSE factor scores were examined in a canonical correlation analysis to understand better the characteristics of the contraceptively self‐efficacious teenager. The results support the proposition that girls with a high CSE orientation think that they should and can be responsible for their sexual activity and act accordingly to achieve contraceptive protection. Girls with a low CSE orientation may be ineffective contraceptors, because they experience conflict regarding their strong sexual feelings and activities. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

Factors Constraining Building Effective and Fair Geographical Indications for Coffee: Insights from a Dominican Case Study

The commodity nature of green coffee is the main cause of the ‘coffee paradox’ (falling producer prices and rising consumer prices). Geographical Indications (GIs) may be an effective ‘decommodifier’ of the coffee market, but many constraints have to be overcome. Based on an analysis of how the characteristics of the coffee production system shape the positions of local stakeholders and, thus, the GI building process, this article identifies some constraining factors that can seriously undermine the capacity the GI has to decommodify the market and attain a fairer distribution of the benefits for local producers.     

Statistical matching and uncertainty analysis in combining household income and expenditure data

Among the goals of statistical matching, a very important one is the estimation of the joint distribution of variables not jointly observed in a sample survey but separately available from independent sample surveys. The absence of joint information on the variables of interest leads to uncertainty about the data generating model since the available sample information is unable to discriminate among a set of plausible joint distributions. In the present paper a short review of the concept of uncertainty in statistical matching under logical constraints, as well as how to measure uncertainty for continuous variables is presented. The notion of matching error is related to an appropriate measure of uncertainty and a criterion of selecting matching variables by choosing the variables minimizing such an uncertainty measure is introduced. Finally, a method to choose a plausible joint distribution for the variables of interest via iterative proportional fitting algorithm is described. The proposed methodology is then applied to household income and expenditure data when extra sample information regarding the average propensity to consume is available. This leads to a reconstructed complete dataset where each record includes measures on income and expenditure.     

A ‘No Blame’ Approach to Organizational Learning

In high‐reliability organizations (HROs) even minor errors can seriously hinder the very existence of the firm and the safety of employees and customers. Field studies have shown that HROs encourage the reporting of errors and near misses, exploiting these incidents to improve their operative processes. In this paper, we describe this practice as a ‘no blame’ approach to error management, and link it to learning theory, showing how no blame practices can enhance organizational learning. By taking a cognitive perspective of organizations, we draw on existing contributions and on a set of empirical case studies to discuss the characteristics of no blame practices, and their applicability in traditional, non‐HROs. Our findings show that, in exploiting information from error‐reporting, no blame practices are beneficial in environments where learning and reliability issues are particularly relevant. Empirical evidence suggests that a no blame approach can be extremely constructive for organizations that want to enhance their learning processes. We conclude that a no blame approach is a valuable way to achieve an organization that has flexibility and variability. However, no blame practices imply a set of organizational issues and costs that pose significant challenges to firms operating in non‐high‐reliability settings. The findings from our study contribute to the literature on HROs and organizational learning.     

Does accounting regulation enhance corporate governance? Evidence from the disclosure of share-based remuneration

Accounting for stock options and share-based remuneration is a controversial issue. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the mandatory adoption of IFRS 2 on accounting for share-based remuneration by Italian listed companies. The requirements under this standard could have relevant implications for corporate governance as IFRS 2 is expected to reduce the information asymmetry that may exist between corporate insiders and outsiders regarding such remuneration. Empirical evidence confirms that overall disclosure in annual reports concerning the costs of remuneration plans has increased following the adoption of IFRS 2, although some cases of lack of disclosure have also been found. We find that this change in accounting regulation has contributed towards revealing the ‘true’ cost of share-based remuneration to minority shareholders and other investors, together with some evidence of creative accounting surrounding the substance over form principle.     

Why are manufacturing SMEs cancelling their ISO 9001 certification? Research from Italy

We investigated why Italian manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) cancelled ISO 9001 certification from the Italian database and the problems and difficulties that led to this. Eight such problems derived from a literature review and interviews with a Delphi panel of 20 experts were tested through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed by 167 managers from Italian SMEs that have cancelled their ISO 9001 certification. Costs related to consultancy and certification body are no longer a difficulty for maintaining ISO 9001 and neither are misinterpretations with the external auditors or paperwork. Internal audits are considered a problem when they are not managed with the aim of measuring performances. Staff can represent a cost when just dedicated to administrative and bureaucratic activities. The more relevant difficulties were top management commitment, measurability of performances and customers’ current lack of interest in ISO 9001. Respondents’ comments also provided interesting suggestions for practitioners such as quality managers and quality consultants to avoid mistakes while maintaining ISO 9001 certification.     

The role and effect of controlling shareholders in corporate governance

This paper examines two potentially contradictory effects of the presence of controlling shareholders. Controlling shareholders have been shown to be beneficial, as they generally have a long-term interest in the firm and are willing and able to monitor the actions of senior managers closely and decrease agency costs between shareholders and management (agency costs of Type I). However, they are also in a position to expropriate the firm’s assets, especially when they are actively involved in management (agency costs of Type II). More specifically, this article reviews how regulatory and legislative bodies have tried to curb the consumption of private benefits by controlling shareholders while preserving the beneficial aspects of their long-term interest and their monitoring role, the effect controlling shareholders on the application and effectiveness of corporate governance best practices as well as on the executive and board member remuneration.     

Sektion Soziologische Theorien

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