Managing human resource shortages in a unionized setting: Best practices in air traffic control

Human resource shortages require effective human resource management (HRM). Findings from research about ongoing labor shortages in air traffic control (ATC) are used to build a preliminary theory of appropriate HRM responses. Our international sample of major ATC agencies generally developed a set of best HRM practices to attract, motivate, and retain human assets. Key factors included (1) cultural and institutional norms, (2) technological change, (3) union responses, and (4) organizational form and structure (e.g., civil service versus commercial firms). While ATC’s rare human aptitudes, lengthy training to develop firm-specific human capital, and lifelong employment may limit the preliminary theory’s general applicability, crucial lessons emerge about human resource planning. This research was conducted with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Rice Fellowship, the Ziegler Fellowship, and the Center for International Business Studies at the University of Alberta. We are indebted to the individuals interviewed.     

斯柯达转型之谜

在很长的一段时间里，总部位于捷克的斯柯达都是一家名不见经传的公司，可就在不到15年的时间里，这家公司便实现了转型，从一个行业笑料发展成了一家颇受尊重的汽车巨头。秘诀何在？答案是：质量，知识转移，资本价值，时机把握，上市速度。     

The Spread of Disability Living Allowance

This article examines the spread of Disability Living Allowance across a group of low income households in an industrial town in North West England from the introduction of the new benefits in 1992 until the Spring of 1996. We focus on the changes over time of the incidence of Disability Living Allowance in the low income population and look at the relative spread of different elements of the benefit. We speculate on whether the new benefits have provided the most effective way of fulfilling the aims of the White Paper, The Way Ahead , and discuss the implications for social and medical models of disability.     

Sociology as giant killer: What should we do with Goliath’s armor?

This paper argues that economic theories and econometric methods can constitute useful tools for the sociological study of employment and gender. Work by the author and by Paula England is used to illustrate this point. His research interests include labor markets, economic sociology, statistical methods, and policy analysis. This article is based on a paper presented at the Southern Sociological Association meetings held in Nashville, Tennessee, March 1988.     

Capture-recapture: before and after EURING 2000

Capture-recapture studies and analyses have become an important tool for the study of bird populations. One reason for the rapid advancement in this area has been the EURING conferences where population biologists and statisticians meet to review recent progress, identify areas that require further work, and work collaborately to solve real world problems. In this paper, we forecast the needs for future research in this area and review the recent conference to try and identify what questions are yet unsolved. This EURING conference was dedicated to Dr George Seber who was the author of a number of key papers and whose name is synonymous with 'The estimation of animal abundance and related parameter' (Seber, 1982). He has retired from working in this field.     

Bayesian estimation in Kibble's bivariate gamma distribution

The authors describe Bayesian estimation for the parameters of the bivariate gamma distribution due to Kibble (1941). The density of this distribution can be written as a mixture, which allows for a simple data augmentation scheme. The authors propose a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to facilitate estimation. They show that the resulting chain is geometrically ergodic, and thus a regenerative sampling procedure is applicable, which allows for estimation of the standard errors of the ergodic means. They develop Bayesian hypothesis testing procedures to test both the dependence hypothesis of the two variables and the hypothesis of equal means. They also propose a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to carry out the model selection problem. Finally, they use sets of real and simulated data to illustrate their methodology.     

The impact of gender on gambling attitudes and behavior

Researchers have often attributed the consistent relation of gender and gambling behavior to gender role socialization. If they are correct, gender should affect different sets of gambling attitudes in a manner consistent with at least three aspects of gender role socialization: a double standard of morality, a guardian of the hearth role for women, and a dualism of orientations. A survey measuring gambling attitudes and behavior was sent to a sample of residents in North Dakota after legalization of several games of chance (e.g., blackjack). Gender affects behavior but only some of the specified attitudes. These mixed results may reflect changes in gender role socialization and the increasing legalization of gambling.     

Class Consciousness and Political Attitudes among Athenians*

Using data collected in Athens, Greece in the spring of 1977, an effort was made to test the relationship between several objective socioeconomic indicators and subjective class perceptions and political attitudes. Our main concern was the effect of subjective class awareness and consciousness on selected political issues (pro-Western foreign policy, civil liberties, and economic conservatism) and voting. Our findings show that class and socioeconomic variables tend to be stronger predictors of socio-political attitudes than are status indicators. In addition, subjective perceptions of class (particularly capitalist political influence and limited societal opportunity), father's politics, and age are major explanatory variables for political attitudes and the way people perceive national and international issues. Perception that the upper class benefits most from clientelism was related to voting and economic conservatism. Working-class consciousness was important in explaining voting in 1977. Our research strategy suggests that for the future we should broaden the study of class consciousness and awareness by viewing it as multidimensional and including measurements based on both closed- and open-ended questions.