Top Management Team Diversity: A Review of Theories and Methodologies

This paper reviews empirical research on top management team (TMT) diversity. A number of scholars have concluded that upper echelons findings, in particular in terms of the consequences of TMT heterogeneity, have been inconclusive. This review conducts an in‐depth analysis of conceptual and methodological issues related to upper echelons diversity studies and offers some directions for future research. Sixty journal articles, published in ten top international journals over a 22‐year period (1984–2005), were analyzed. The results suggest that upper echelons research is increasingly multidisciplinary in nature; however, in‐depth inquiries into the antecedents of TMT composition and the multilevel contextual influences on the implications of TMT heterogeneity are still needed. This review finds that clarity about level of analysis, both theoretically and empirically, remains an important issue in the field and thus a multilevel approach is strongly encouraged. Moreover, the complexity of diversity as a theoretical construct needs to be acknowledged and operationalized accordingly in upper echelons studies.     

Creating a reference to a complex emergency situation using time series methods: war in Guinea-Bissau 1998-1999

Impacts of complex emergencies or relief interventions have often been evaluated by absolute mortality compared to international standardized mortality rates. A better evaluation would be to compare with local baseline mortality of the affected populations. A projection of population-based survival data into time of emergency or intervention based on information from before the emergency may create a local baseline reference. We find a log-transformed Gaussian time series model where standard errors of the estimated rates are included in the variance to have the best forecasting capacity. However, if time-at-risk during the forecasted period is known then forecasting might be done using a Poisson time series model with overdispersion. Whatever, the standard error of the estimated rates must be included in the variance of the model either in an additive form in a Gaussian model or in a multiplicative form by overdispersion in a Poisson model. Data on which the forecasting is based must be modelled carefully concerning not only calendar-time trends but also periods with excessive frequency of events (epidemics) and seasonal variations to eliminate residual autocorrelation and to make a proper reference for comparison, reflecting changes over time during the emergency. Hence, when modelled properly it is possible to predict a reference to an emergency-affected population based on local conditions. We predicted childhood mortality during the war in Guinea-Bissau 1998-1999. We found an increased mortality in the first half-year of the war and a mortality corresponding to the expected one in the last half-year of the war.     

Simultaneous confidence band for the difference of segmented linear models

Consider comparing between two treatments a response variable, whose expectation depends on the value of a continuous covariate in some nonlinear fashion. We fit separate segmented linear models to each treatment to approximate the nonlinear relationship. For this setting, we provide a simultaneous confidence band for the difference between treatments of the expected value functions. The treatments are said to differ significantly on intervals of the covariate where the simultaneous confidence band does not contain zero. We consider segmented linear models where the locations of the changepoints are both known and unknown. The band is obtained from asymptotic results.     

Government,Culture and Sustainability in Greenland: A Microstate with a Hinterland

In population terms Greenland is one of the world's smallest states, but it occupies one of the world's largest land masses. It also brings together two very different cultures, those of the indigenous Inuit hunter society and those of the Danish colonial administration. There is now a substantial measure of self-government, building on what this article sees as a surprising measure of common ground between the cultures. Today economics and technology present significant challenges, and the article suggests that the cause of social sustainability will not be well served by giving in to contemporary global pressures.     

What are the economic consequences of divorce?

Our analysis suggests that Weitzman's finding concerning the precipitous decline in the economic status of women following divorce is likely to be incorrect. Her findings not only imply improbably large changes in income but are also inconsistent with the information she reports on changes in income and in income per capita. Corrected estimates suggest a decline in economic status of about one-third, rather than the widely cited 73 percent figure. It remains the case that the economic status of men and women diverge substantially in the years after divorce. That difference, however, is not nearly as dramatic as suggested by Weitzman's findings.     

Welfare benefits,economic opportunities,and out-of-wedlock births among black teenage girls

This article presents a model of teenage out-of-wedlock births that incorporates the effects of both welfare and nonwelfare economic opportunities. We construct measures of the likely "medium-run" income available to a teenage girl in the event of an out-of-wedlock birth and in the absence of a birth and then estimate a logit model to determine their importance in influencing fertility behavior. The model is estimated with data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on nearly 900 black teenagers. We find weak and statistically insignificant positive effects of Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) benefit levels and stronger and significant negative effects of economic opportunities on the probability of AFDC-related out-of-wedlock teen births.     

Young Adult Daughters' Relationships With Their Fathers: Review of Recent Research

In “Something More”: The Meanings of Marriage for Religious Couples in America, Dollahite, Hawkins and Parr (2012) present a qualitative study that includes interviews with religiously observant married couples to investigate marriage. The current paper reviews the aforementioned study with respect to its trustworthiness, through dependability, credibility, confirmability and transferability, to encourage the elevation of qualitative work in our field. We discuss a number of challenges in the study design, methods, interpretation, and conclusions. In sum, our reading of the study left us wanting “something more” scholarly rigorous for the field of marriage research and qualitative work.     

Motivating the Unemployed? Attitudes at the Front Line

Abstract

Underlying employment services policy in many countries is the assumption that the unemployed exhibit a range of deficits. The goal of employment activation programs is to develop self-efficacy. Noting the determinants of self-efficacy, we illustrate how case managers and social workers think about the unemployed and suggest that negative attitudes held by case managers are not conducive to the promotion of self-efficacy, unlike the orientation displayed by social workers. We suggest that employment services, wherever provided, would be significantly improved if social work frameworks informed policy and practices.