Heine process as a q-analog of the Poisson process—waiting and interarrival times

In this study, we introduce the Heine process, {X_q(t), t > 0}, 0 < q < 1, where the random variable X_q(t), for every t > 0, represents the number of events (occurrences or arrivals) during a time interval (0, t]. The Heine process is introduced as a q-analog of the basic Poisson process. Also, in this study, we prove that the distribution of the waiting time W_{ν, q}, ν ? 1, up to the νth arrival, is a q-Erlang distribution and the interarrival times T_{k, q} = W_{k, q} ? W_{k ? 1, q},?k = 1, 2, …, ν with W_{0, q} = 0 are independent and equidistributed with a q-Exponential distribution.     

Klassenspezifische Wahlabstinenz – Spielt das Vertrauen in politische Institutionen eine Rolle?

This article aims at an analysis to what extent class-differences in non-voting—more precisely: non-voting intention—can be explained referring to the factors of trust in institutions. What is the link between a lack of trust in state institutions and the intention to abstain from voting? Are there parallel class differences in all of these aspects? Data base is a cumulated ALLBUS data-set (1984, 1994, 2002, 2008). Results indicate class differences in non-voting intention and trust in political institutions—with lowest scores for lowly-skilled working class. Multivariate models show that class-differences in non-voting intention can be explained only to a rather small extent by class-specific trust in institutions. Looking at the time periods, an increasing distance between lowly-skilled working class and the political system can be recognised.     

How publics use social media to respond to blame games in crisis communication: The Love Parade tragedy in Duisburg 2010

Crisis communication scholarship has been criticized for its “managerial bias” and for its tendency to marginalize the perspective of publics and audiences. However, the understanding of how publics cope with and interpret crises is crucial for developing the body of knowledge in crisis communication, from both critical and managerial/functionalist perspectives. This case study of the Love Parade crisis in Germany 2010 aimed at exploring how publics perceived the crisis response of the festival organizers and how they used social media to communicate about it shortly after the outbreak of the crisis. A content analysis of 1847 postings at two relevant message boards produced support for the assumption that attributions of cause and responsibility are important predictors of publics’ evaluations of organizations in crisis situations. Findings also revealed that stakeholders actively engage in such attributional inferences spontaneously without being prompted by researchers. The analysis of responsibility perceptions as well as evaluative judgments over time supported the situational crisis communication theory. Blaming others and denying responsibility in the context of a crisis that was perceived as human error accident triggered negative reputational outcomes for the organizations involved in the Love Parade.     

Does marriage affect men’s labor market outcomes? A European perspective

Does marriage make men more productive, or do more productive men marry? Previous studies have reached different conclusions but have also been conducted using different methodologies in different countries and in different time periods. We use two sources of European panel data (spanning the years 1994–2001 and 2003–2007) to assess the relationship between marriage and labor market outcomes. By using data from 12 countries over a 13 year period, we are able to investigate the impact of marriage in different country groups and across time. We find that selection into marriage accounts for most of the differences in hours worked and wages between married and non-married men. With respect to wages we note that while the difference between married and non-married males has increased over time, the actual effect of marriage has disappeared.     

A DEA Framework to Assess the Efficiency of the Software Requirements Capture and Analysis Process*

In this paper a theoretical framework to assess the efficiency of the Requirements Capture and Analysis (RCA) process in software development is introduced. Although it is widely recognized that successful implementation of the first stages of the software development process is critical for the overall development process, RCA efficiency assessments have not been given much attention. The presented theoretical framework to assess RCA efficiency follows a production approach to model the early stages of a software project. An approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis that utilizes the proposed framework to isolate the effects of exogenous factors, such as the environment or the type of project, on the project's RCA efficiency is also presented. Finally, the applicability of the methodology through an exploratory empirical study is demonstrated, and managerial implications are discussed.     

Simulation of close-to-reality population data for household surveys with application to EU-SILC

Statistical simulation in survey statistics is usually based on repeatedly drawing samples from population data. Furthermore, population data may be used in courses on survey statistics to explain issues regarding, e.g., sampling designs. Since the availability of real population data is in general very limited, it is necessary to generate synthetic data for such applications. The simulated data need to be as realistic as possible, while at the same time ensuring data confidentiality. This paper proposes a method for generating close-to-reality population data for complex household surveys. The procedure consists of four steps for setting up the household structure, simulating categorical variables, simulating continuous variables and splitting continuous variables into different components. It is not required to perform all four steps so that the framework is applicable to a broad class of surveys. In addition, the proposed method is evaluated in an application to the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).     

Extending Little’s Law to single order throughput times

It has long been established that the mean throughput time is a result from the relationship between the work in process (WIP) and output rate. In reality, however, throughput times are frequently dispersed broadly around this mean. With the aid of a model originally developed for lateness, it is now possible to describe the throughput times of individual orders. Accordingly, the throughput time can be divided into two components: WIP-dependent throughput time and sequence-dependent throughput time.     

Face-to-Face wird überbewertet – Telefoncoaching aus Klienten- und Beraterperspektive

Claudia Bredt talks to Dr. Andreas Knierim about her experiences with telephone coaching from a client and consultant perspective. Claudia Bredt has been using the medium telephone for several years as a format for supervision and coaching. She combines face-to-face sessions with telephone consulting. At the same time, she has also experienced the good effects of telephone coaching herself as a client.     

Tweaking the entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship in family firms: the effect of control mechanisms and family-related goals

Management literature is currently giving growing conceptual and empirical attention to the peculiarity and relevance of entrepreneurial attitudes in family firms, with divergent outcomes. Aiming at concretizing the effects of these attitudes, denoted by the entrepreneurial orientation construct, on family business performance and considering that family dynamics come into play in this relationship, we particularly investigate the impact of control mechanisms and family-related goals. Findings are based on a sample of 180 family firms and show that Proactiveness and Autonomy are particularly relevant to financial performance. Agency-problems avoiding control mechanisms moderate the effect of Innovativeness and Autonomy, while socioemotional wealth (SEW) goals moderate the effect of Risk-Taking, respectively. The usage of these mechanisms and managing SEW goals provide opportunities for a more efficient exploitation of entrepreneurial attitudes.     

Marxism underground. Latent Marxism in Austrian empirical sociology

The establishment of sociology in Austria in the twentieth century is in many ways connected with Marxism. Numerous sociologists considered themselves as Marxists, thus at least subjectively carrying on with an “underground” Marxism in their sociological work. Others spent considerable energy in distancing themselves sharply from Marxist positions and tried (especially in times of Austrofascism and National Socialism) to banish Marxism underground within the young discipline. This precarious tension continued to exist in the post-war period and shaped the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline in Austria, but remained unproductive. This thematic issue therefore raises the question of the “latency” of Marxist concepts and positions in Austrian empirical sociology and seeks to explore whether the discussion and updating of Marxist positions can stimulate reflection on the conditions of production of sociological knowledge and research.