Logics and discourses in disability arts in Sweden: a neo-institutional perspective

Theatre for and with people with intellectual disabilities has gradually become a more frequent and popular work arrangement within the municipal daily activities in Sweden. This article focuses on one of those theatres - Olla - and the aim is to analyse the institutional settings and normative environment surrounding the theatre and the way in which it relates to different institutional rules and expectations. Analytical implications will be drawn against neo-institutional theory and will show how Olla expresses both an artistic and a therapeutical logic, and that legitimacy is dependent on a loosely coupled formal structure between process and product, art and therapy. These logics are formulated within two different discourses, which leave Olla balancing between being a normalisation project or disability art which puts emphasis on the celebration of difference.     

Transformational and transactional leadership styles,followers' positive and negative emotions,and performance in German nonprofit orchestras

Although the transformational‐transactional leadership paradigm has received increased attention from the research community over the past two decades, the nonprofit sector has been largely neglected. This study provides information about the effectiveness of transformational and transactional leadership styles in the domain of German nonprofit orchestras, while exploring the role of emotions within these leadership styles. We examined musicians' perceptions of their orchestra conductors' leadership behaviors and related those behaviors to performance. Positive emotions were associated with both transactional and transformational leadership. Negative emotions partially mediated the influence of transformational leadership on performance. In combination, the results allow a more thorough and detailed understanding of effective leadership behavior in nonprofit organizations.     

Are psychosocial factors associated with low-back pain among nursing personnel?

The aim of this study was to investigate whether psychosocial factors at work are related to low-back pain among nursing personnel. It was conducted as a short-term follow-up study of 200 Danish female nursing personnel, providing care for the elderly. Self-reported measures of psychosocial factors such as time pressure, emotional demands of clients, control and social support were obtained by questionnaire at baseline, while stress, physical exertion and low-back pain were reported by diary records made in two, three-day periods in the subsequent 6 months. The study examines the possible influence of psychosocial factors preceding low-back pain as well as stress and physical exertion reported simultaneously with low-back pain. Only stress was associated with low-back pain (Odds Ratio (OR)=2.3; Confidence Interval (CI)=1.3-3.9) while neither physical exertion or any of the psychosocial factors were related to low-back pain. A possible pathway connecting emotional demands of clients to low-back pain through the mediation of stress was suggested.     

Rounded responses to income questions

Summary: Responses to income questions in surveys are often rounded by the respondents. Though this is widely ignored, rounding can have detrimental effects on the results of a statistical analysis, especially with respect to the consistency of estimates. This paper deals with the analysis of data from the Finnish sub–sample of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) with respect to factors that influence rounding of personal gross wage and earnings. The finding is that the propensity to observe rounded values can be related to factors like the interview mode, the wage level, and personal characteristics like gender and job type.*Work financed by the European Commission under contract number IST–1999–11101.     

Netzwerksteuerung zwischen Management und Moderation: Zur Bedeutung und Handhabung von Moderationskonzepten bei der Steuerung von Unternehmensnetzwerken

The use of participative methods, like moderation, as a management tool for interfirm networks is increasing. In contrast, the evaluation of results might not satisfy expectations. One major reason lies in the unreflective transmission from the roots of moderation. It was historically developed for the context of social groups and organizations. However, the network as a relatively unknown social phenomenon implies a set of different characteristics and conditions which have to be taken into account. Dilemmas, fluid and volatile resources as well as the lack of openness in the manner of participation shown by the members of a network, affect radically the identity, the possibilities of action and the applicable instruments of moderation. Therefore, basic principles of action (i.e. neutrality) and the demarcation from obvious roles and functions (i.e. network management) have to be reexamined.     

Health care for an immigrant nation: Policy and practice in Australia

Australia is one of the most multicultural nations on earth. Over 100 different languages are spoken by Australians in the normal course of their lives. 20% of its population was born in another country and 24% of Australians have one or both parents born overseas. It is within this socio‐demographic context that Australia has developed its social and institutional policies of multicultur‐alism provided the intellectual capital and impetus for the creation of a Migrant Health Policy. The latter, in turn, is responsible for the operational policies about language, culture, information marketing and agency operations, which govern the nature and extent of health care services to the community. This paper provides a historical view of the role of immigration in Australia's development, explains the policy creation process, its antecedents and its service outcomes, and concludes with a summary of the major challenges which confront the health care system in its quest to provide equitable, relevant and responsive services to a multilingual and multicultural community.     

Converging and Diverging Governance Mechanisms: The Role of (Dys)Function in Long‐term Inter‐organizational Relationships

This paper explores the dynamic interplay of formal/informal governance mechanisms, in terms of functional and dysfunctional consequences for both sides of the dyad, in long‐term inter‐organizational relationships. Using two longitudinal cases of UK defence sector procurement (warship commissioning) we move beyond notions of complementarity and substitution in governance towards a more nuanced view where the governance mix of inter‐organizational relationships can be convergent or divergent. Our findings, showing that relationships can exhibit functional and dysfunctional behaviour simultaneously, lead us to conclude that mismatches in governance mechanisms can be positive as well as negative. In building a context‐dependent understanding of governance we both summarize the (dys)functions associated with formal and informal governance mechanisms and explore their impact on relationship exchange performance over time.