Workplace hazards and workers’ desires for union representation

This paper investigates “voice” responses to hazardous and otherwise disagreeable working conditions in the form of workers’ expressed desires for union representation. Using data from three surveys conducted between 1977 and 1982, workers exposed to significant health and safety risks on the job are found to be substantially more likely to report a willingness to vote pro-union than are comparable workers not similarly exposed. This finding is obtained using both subjective and objective measures of hazard and both union and nonunion workers. Management resistance, however, appears to play a strong role in determining the actual extent of unionization. Between 41 and 48 percent of workers in hazardous jobs desire union representation but have not achieved it. Support for this research was obtained from the Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California, Berkeley. Computational help was provided by Keun Lee and Glenn Shor. Valuable comments on an earlier draft were obtained from William Dickens.     

The older lesbian

This research uncovers a pattern of support and the existence of a relationship network that runs strongly counter to the stereotyped view that lesbians in later life find themselves friendless and without support. The hypothesis that the older lesbian has developed friendship networks to replace missing or weak kin ties is substantiated. The findings are based on 20 in-depth, structured interviews with lesbians whose ages range from 50 to 73.     

The effects of covariate adjustment in generalized linear models

Results from classical linear regression regarding the effects of covariate adjustment, with respect to the issues of confounding, the precision with which an exposure effect can be estimated, and the efficiency of hypothesis tests for no treatment effect in randomized experiments, are often assumed to apply more generally to other types of regression models. In this paper results pertaining to several generalized linear models involving a dichotomous response variable are given, demonstrating that with respect to the issues of confounding and precision, for models having a linear or log link function the results of classical linear regression do generally apply, whereas for other models, including those having a logit, probit, log-log, complementary log-log, or generalized logistic link function, the results of classical linear regression do not always apply. It is also shown, however, that for any link function, covariate adjustment results in improved efficiency of hypothesis tests for no treatment effect in randomized experiments, and hence that the classical linear regression results regarding efficiency do apply for all models having a dichotomous response variable.     

Consolidation and fragmentation in environmental scanning: A review and research agenda

Environmental scanning is a broadly defined concept, having first received attention from scholars in the late 1960s. Over the years a number of similar and overlapping constructs have emerged in management literature. The aim of this study, via a systematic review and thematic analysis of relevant empirical research, is to consolidate foundation environmental scanning knowledge, demonstrate how scanning research has developed and fragmented over time, and propose an agenda for future research. The first contribution of our review is a new typology of environmental scanning research made up of five discrete research views, which provides a more comprehensive and contemporary overview of the field than previous studies. The second is a proposed agenda for future research that explicitly acknowledges the role of technology, an area that is presently underdeveloped in foundation scanning literature. The third contribution is to signpost future directions for research on scanning and organisational performance using a number of theoretical perspectives. The overall outcome of our review is to move scanning research on from increasingly incremental contributions concerned with context to a place where the changing role of technology and the mechanisms through which environmental scanning contributes to competitive advantage can be more thoroughly understood.     

Human asset accounting

Human Asset Accounting (‘HAA’) is not an accepted tool of long range planning. Indeed many planners probably look sceptically on the possibility that it will ever become a technique which is important to them in their work. Unlike many other methods which have been successfully developed over the last few years HAA involves concepts which are so new that as yet relatively few people have come into contact with them. The object of this article is to give some indication of the conceptual framework on which HAA theories are based and to describe one of the techniques which is being evolved as a possible management and planning tool.     

Lone Parents in Northern Ireland: The Effectiveness of Work Incentives

In recent years social policy in relation to lone parents has placed heavy emphasis on increasing the participation of this group in the labour market. If anything, the newly elected Labour government appears to be more committed to this objective than its predecessor. This paper details some of the findings from a focus-groups exercise with lone mothers in Belfast conducted in 1995. The data underline the limitations of many aspects of the measures taken to encourage lone parents to work and raise questions about the appropriateness of current policy.     

Economic Production Lot Sizing with Periodic Costs and Overtime*

Traditional approaches for modeling economic production lot‐sizing problems assume that a single, fixed equipment setup cost is incurred each time a product is run, regardless of the quantity manufactured. This permits multiple days of production from one production setup. In this paper, we extend the model to consider additional fixed charges, such as cleanup or inspection costs, that are associated with each time period's production. This manufacturing cost structure is common in the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries, where process equipment must be sanitized between item changeovers and at the end of each day's production. We propose two mathematical problem formulations and optimization algorithms. The models' unique features include regular time production constraints, a fixed charge for each time period's production, and the availability of overtime production capacity. Experimental results indicate the conditions under which our algorithms' performance is superior to traditional approaches. We also test the procedures on a set of lot‐sizing problems facing a national food processor and document their potential economic benefit.