Efficiency of Microfinance Institutions in the Mediterranean: An Application of DEA

By applying the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method, even with all the limitations where error could cause significant problems, this paper attempts to investigate the efficiency of 35 Microfinance institutions in the Mediterranean zone during the period of 2004–2005. The estimated results prove that eight institutions are relatively efficient, and have a notable level of average efficiency and a potential of evolution while being referent to their technical efficiency. The survey also reveals that the size of the MFIs has a negative effect on their efficiency since the MFIs of medium size are more efficient than the eminent.

Monkey bars and ladders: The importance of lateral and vertical job mobility in internal labor market careers

This paper compares results from the empirical literature on internal labor markets with outcomes from analyzing personnel data of the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It sheds light on differences in the functioning of internal labor markets between periods of workforce growth and decline. Despite substantial variation in individual wages, careers are important as wages are strongly related to job levels. Promotion rates fall and demotion rates rise when the firm enters the stage of demise. Vertical and lateral job mobility are important in internal labor market careers as they stimulate wage growth and reduce the lay-off risk.     

A grassroots prototype for trauma-informed child welfare system change

The development of trauma-informed child welfare systems (TICWSs) that advance individual agency practice to target transformation of the system as a whole has been conceptualized but not documented. A grassroots effort to build a TICWS with key participants (e.g., Department of Human Services, Community Mental Health, Family Court, schools) in nine Michigan communities provides a field tested model for implementation. This article described what emerged as the core elements for a TICWS, which includes (1) development and support of a project champion, (2) trauma identification, (3) comprehensive assessment of traumatic impact, (4) evidence based trauma treatment, (5) establishing a common trauma language, and (6) trauma-informed decision-making. Several new instruments for assessing aTICWS are identified. Lessons learned are highlighted for consideration of communities seeking to develop TICWSs.     

Quality management and performance: a comparison between the UK and Turkey

Purpose: The aim of this article is to detail the correlation between quality management, specifically its tools and critical success factors, and performance in terms of primary operational and secondary organisational performances.

Design/methodology/approach: Survey data from the UK and Turkey were analysed using exploratory factor analyses, structural equation modelling and regression analysis.

Findings: The results show that quality management has a significant and positive impact on both primary and secondary performances; that Turkish and UK attitudes to quality management are similar; and that quality management is widely practised in manufacturing and service industries but has more statistical emphasis in the manufacturing sector. The main challenge for making quality management practice more effective lies in an appropriate balanced use of the different sorts of the tools and critical success factors.

Originality/value: This study takes a novel approach by: (i) exploring the relationship between primary operational and secondary organisational performances, (ii) using service and manufacturing data and (iii) making a cross-country comparison between the UK (a developed economy) and Turkey (a developing economy).

Limitations: Detailed contrast provided between only two countries.     

危机管理中跨界治理的检视与改革之道:以汶川大地震为例

危机管理需要不同政府或行政机构之间的配合,当危机扩大到一定程度时,更需要把私部门、非政府组织和广大公民的力量整合到危机管理的过程中。因此,如何在危机管理中形成行政单位中跨组织、地理空间上跨区域和优势互补上跨部门的制度化"跨界治理网络",是政府危机管理的重要问题。如果就我国的具体情况而言,有些地方和部门已经积极探索危机管理中跨界治理的方式,但在总体上而言,跨组织、跨区域和跨部门的危机管理模式和机制还没有建立起来。因此,在今后的危机管理中,如何建立网络化的跨界治理模式与机制,不论对学术界还是实务界来说,都是值得持续关注、深入研究和积极探索的课题。     

论中国儒文化的政治意蕴

以儒家文化为主体的中华文化,两千年来始终受到强大的政治力量的支配.这就使中国文化不仅具有强烈的伦理情感,而且具有深厚的政治意蕴.     

“We don’t have to talk about how I feel”: emotionality as a tool of resistance in political discourse among Israeli students – a gendered socio-linguistic perspective

This article demonstrates how the gendered patriarchal mechanisms that exclude women from the political sphere are being produced, re-produced, and challenged in interpersonal political conversations by concentrating on the discursive mechanisms that construct the way young Israeli women and men talk about politics. The research is based on a yearlong intra-group dialog process. The group met for weekly sessions during two semesters, in which the group members discussed and expressed their thoughts and feelings regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) demonstrated how the political space is being marked, defined and delimited through gendered discursive practices. We present the different roles participants take in the group, and in particular the different strategies women use in face of disciplinary discursive mechanisms. The process revealed that the development in the group discussion was strongly intertwined with the change in the positioning strategies of the female participants. In particular, we found that women deployed emotionality as a tool of resistance that challenges gender binaries and masculine dominance. Our conclusion highlights the importance of the daily interactions in creating, sustaining and changing the political discourse of a society in conflict.     

Occupations,migration, sex ratios,and nuptiality in nineteenth century English communities: A model of relationships

Two effects of occupational structure on nuptiality levels are examined: a direct functional effect related to the influence of socioeconomic characteristics on the feasibility and desirability of marriage, and an indirect structural effect related to nuptiality levels via sex selective migration patterns and population sex ratios. Our analysis shows that nuptiality levels in nineteenth century English and Welsh districts were responsive to occupational variation and that both direct and indirect effects were significant. Our results suggest that socioeconomic factors, often overlooked in favor of cultural explanation, must be considered in the analysis of nuptiality.