Manager-Derailment

The topic of this article in the journal “Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation (GIO)”, failure of managers, used to be a taboo issue that currently receives more and more attention in the daily press as well as in research. In times of globalization and the resulting world-wide competition, organizations bear the responsibility of counteracting failures of their top managers as they encompass not only financial damage for the company but also personal consequences for the respective individual. The derailment of a manager describes the sudden break-down of a so far successful executive. But how does a derailment occur and are there possibilities to prevent it? The following contribution reports empirical evidence for both risk and resilience factors and gives advice for personnel selection and development.     

Does Family Structure Matter? A Comparison of Adoptive,Two‐Parent Biological,Single‐Mother,Stepfather, and Stepmother Households

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we compared quality of family relationships and well‐being across five different family structures with a particular focus on adoptive households. Four theoretical perspectives, each emphasizing the importance of different factors in determining relationship quality and well‐being, guided this work and led us to compare adoptive families with families that include two biological parents, single mothers, stepfathers, and stepmothers. We found the most support for the perspective stressing the importance of family processes that occur in all types of families, rather than family structure. Specifically, there were few family structure differences based on fathers' and children's reports, and structure differences in mothers' reports were no longer significant after controlling for disagreements between family members. The implications of these results for adoption theory and policies are discussed.     

The influence of student characteristics and interpersonal teacher behaviour in the classroom on student’s wellbeing

Student wellbeing can be considered a major output indicator of quality of education. A positive classroom climate can contribute to a higher sense of wellbeing. Interpersonal relationships between teachers and students are an important aspect of the classroom climate. This study investigated how student wellbeing was predicted by student characteristics, interpersonal teacher behaviour and achievement. 594 students from 55 classes in 13 technical and vocational secondary schools were involved in this study. The results indicated that those students who attended school because they were highly motivated learners reported a higher sense of wellbeing than those who attended out of a sense of duty. It also appeared that student perception of interpersonal teacher behaviour predicted student wellbeing. As a case in point, when students viewed their language teacher as tolerant yet exacting discipline, a positive relationship was found with student wellbeing. Students also felt better when their mathematics teachers were less authoritarian, but the cooperative component was still important.     

What family dimensions are important for health-related quality of life in adolescence?

Adolescence is a relevant life stage in which to study a global well-being measure, health-related quality of life, in order to analyse the impact of important determinants in adolescents' health-related quality of life (e.g., the quality of family relationships). This study aimed to examine the impact of several family dimensions (parental affection, parental promotion of autonomy, family activities, adolescent disclosure, parental solicitation and parental knowledge) on adolescents' health-related quality of life. Additionally, this study investigated whether demographic variables (adolescents' gender and age) influenced health-related quality of life and moderated the relationship between family dimensions and health-related quality of life. The sample was composed of 14,825 adolescents, aged 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18, from the 2006 edition of Spain's Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The results showed that parental promotion of autonomy, family activities and especially parental affection were the most important dimensions influencing health-related quality of life. Boys reported higher health-related quality of life than girls, and younger adolescents reported higher health-related quality of life than older adolescents. The discussion explains how the aforementioned family dimensions encourage better health-related quality of life in adolescents.     

Combining editing and imputation methods: an experimental application on population census data

Summary.  Features of census data make the editing and imputation phase a complex matter. Complex editing and imputation tasks can be tackled by dividing the editing and imputation process into subphases characterized by different problems, and finding appropriate solutions for each of them. An experimental application of the approach of combining different currently used methods for the editing and imputation of population census data is presented.     

Knowledge network dissemination in a family-firm sector

The literature on network often assumes that all firms in the net can benefit from knowledge externalities often reserved to the network area. Based on network analysis (historical and social) we will attempt to confirm the idea that social proximity plays a crucial role, especially in Italian clusters of small firms. We demonstrate that local knowledge relations are confined in the investigated area due to the high socio-familial substrate, the firm's capacity to recognise opportunities and co-ordination ability. The empirical analysis is based on the influence of both the characteristics of each entrepreneur and of each unit of innovation, and of the absorptive capacity (cognitive proximity) and social capital on relationships.     

Willingness to Have Unprotected Sex

Little is known about people's willingness to engage in sex without protection from unwanted pregnancy. This study surveyed 1,497 women and men at 75 clinics and physician offices across California after their reproductive health care visits in late 2007 and early 2008. When asked if they would have sex without contraception, 30% said definitively that yes, they would have unprotected sex, and 20% indicated they would “sometimes” or “maybe” engage in unprotected sex. In multivariate models, compared to non-Latino White respondents, Latinos who responded to the survey in English were 52% more likely and African Americans were 75% more likely to report willingness to have unprotected intercourse. Wanting a child within the next three years was associated with increased willingness to have unprotected sex. Age, gender, parity, and relationship status were not significant in multivariate models. A considerable proportion of women and men may be willing to have unprotected sex, even with access to subsidized contraceptive services and even when recently counseled about birth control. The dominant behavioral models of contraceptive use need to acknowledge the widespread likelihood of occasional unprotected sex, even among people motivated to usually use contraceptives. Findings underscore the need to make contraceptive methods accessible, easy to use, and even pleasurable.     

Children's subjective well-being: International comparative perspectives

We are enjoined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to take account of the views of children. One way this can be done is by asking children about their lives in sample surveys. This paper is a comparison of the results obtained to sample survey questions on subjective well-being of children at two contrasting levels of analysis—international macro (European Union 29) and national level micro (England). At both levels, children's well-being is accessed in terms of three subjective domains: (1) personal well-being, (2) relational well-being, and (3) well-being at school. At the micro level we also explore neighbourhood well-being.The results show that at the macro level personal well-being is associated with the material and housing circumstances but not family relationships or family structure. Well-being at school is not associated with any variable. Subjective health is only associated with family structure. At the micro level, although many of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of children are found to be associated with their well-being in the four domains, these factors explain only a small amount of the variation in these well-being domains.