The link between economic and social upgrading in global supply chains: Experiences from the Southern Cone

This article uses nine case studies of global supply chains (GSCs) in Southern Cone countries to explore the extent to which economic and social upgrading are linked and spread from lead firms to their supply chain. While economic and social upgrading are found in lead firm segments throughout the case studies, the impacts on suppliers are varied. Pattern groupings enable the authors to develop a three‐part typology of development in GSCs, in the light of which they consider the roles of public policies, company behaviour and social actors in addressing developmental outcomes for GSC lead firms and suppliers.     

Double Jeopardy in Hollywood: Age and Gender in the Careers of Film Actors, 1926–1999

There have been few studies of the concept of double jeopardy as it pertains to the effects of gender and aging on occupational outcomes. This research examines the utility of this concept in the field of film acting, traditionally a gender-integrated occupation. The results confirm significant negative effects of being female and being older on the number of film roles received by actors and their average star presence. Moreover, the gendered effects of aging on the career opportunities of actors have diminished somewhat over time with respect to number of film roles but not with respect to star presence.     

Smoking cessation and relapse prevention among undergraduate students: a pilot demonstration project

The prevalence of college students' tobacco use is widely recognized, but successful cessation and relapse-prevention programs for these smokers have drawn little attention. The authors, who explored the feasibility of training peers to lead cessation and relapse-prevention programs for undergraduates, found a quit rate of 88.2%, suggesting that peers were effective facilitators. Relapse-prevention interventions, which began immediately after participants quit smoking, included 6 monthly group programs and individual meetings. Each session provided education and training in stress management, nutrition and exercise habits, managing environmental smoking triggers, and coping in social situations. After participating in the relapse-prevention programs, 63.3% of the initial quitters remained smoke free, another indication that peers were effective facilitators. The success of the program, combined with the dearth of population-specific cessation and relapse-prevention tools, suggests that college administrators and health educators should develop integrated tobacco management strategies on college campuses.     

Organisationsentwicklung durch Gesundheitsförderung,dargestellt am Beispiel Krankenhaus

The public interest in the health status of the individual has increased steadily over the last decades. Organisations — as goal oriented groups of individuals-need health promotion too. The article shows, using hospitals as an example, that this can be an important task for corporate social work. In addition to fundamental reflections on the health damaging impact of hospitals on their staff this article describes as well concrete and practical measures of how health promotion can be achieved in companies.     

Asymmetry models for square contingency tables: exact tests via algebraic statistics

Square contingency tables with the same row and column classification occur frequently in a wide range of statistical applications, e.g. whenever the members of a matched pair are classified on the same scale, which is usually ordinal. Such tables are analysed by choosing an appropriate loglinear model. We focus on the models of symmetry, triangular, diagonal and ordinal quasi symmetry. The fit of a specific model is tested by the chi-squared test or the likelihood-ratio test, where p-values are calculated from the asymptotic chi-square distribution of the test statistic or, if this seems unjustified, from the exact conditional distribution. Since the calculation of exact p-values is often not feasible, we propose alternatives based on algebraic statistics combined with MCMC methods.     

Insights from Attempts to Validate a Multi-Attribute Model of Problem Definition Quality

Problem definitions are often used as part of the problem structuring process in decision sciences. We report an attempt to validate a multi-attribute model of problem definition quality in the context of an experiment based upon the definition of the ‘alcohol problem’ on a campus. Three independent raters assessed values for the attributes of the model for 57 written problem definitions, and their rating was compared to three subjective ‘expert’ ratings made by individuals with some responsibility for alcohol policy. Our study shows that the experts exhibited considerable stakeholder bias in their assessments of the definitions, suggesting that a definition that is evaluated as good may not be subjectively acceptable to others. We present some evidence that the best definitions are those that provide direction with regard to solution, neither suggesting firm solutions to the problem nor being too open-ended. It is shown that the multi-attribute model is a reasonable tool for eliminating poorer definitions. Further, we relate our work to recent conceptual developments in understanding problem definition.     

A Survey of the First Five Years' Work of a Child Sexual Abuse Team

This paper describes a survey of the first 5 years' work of a specialist NHS child sexual abuse team (CSAT), which provides a post-disclosure treatment service to young people aged between 13 and 19. Information was obtained on the demographic characteristics of young people referred, the nature of their abuse and its perpetrators, and the type, length and outcome of the treatment provided. The survey was also used to ask four questions. Was the team providing a service to its target population, young people whose sexual abuse had been severe? Did the severity of abuse predict the intensity or length of therapy provided? Were there differences in the service provided to boys as opposed to girls? Finally, did experienced therapists achieve different results when compared with non-experienced therapists? It was found that the service was being used by its target group and that severity of abuse was associated with longer or more intensive therapy. The service did not appear to be adequately meeting the needs of boys. There was some indication that experienced therapists achieved the same treatment outcome as inexperienced therapists in a shorter period of time.