Nonlinear structural equation modeling: is partial least squares an alternative?

Nonlinear structural equation modeling provides many advantages over analyses based on manifest variables only. Several approaches for the analysis of latent interaction effects have been developed within the last 15 years, including the partial least squares product indicator approach (PLS-PI), the constrained product indicator approach using the LISREL software (LISREL-PI), and the distribution-analytic latent moderated structural equations approach (LMS) using the Mplus program. An assumed advantage of PLS-PI is that it is able to deal with very large numbers of indicators, while LISREL-PI and LMS have not been investigated under such conditions. In a Monte Carlo study, the performance of LISREL-PI and LMS was compared to PLS-PI results previously reported in Chin et al. (2003) and Goodhue et al. (2007) for identical conditions. The latent interaction model included six indicator variables for the measurement of each latent predictor variable and the latent criterion, and sample size was N=100. The results showed that PLS-PI’s linear and interaction parameter estimates were downward biased, while parameter estimates were unbiased for LISREL-PI and LMS. True standard errors were smallest for PLS-PI, while the power to detect the latent interaction effect was higher for LISREL-PI and LMS. Compared to the symmetric distributions of interaction parameter estimates for LISREL-PI and LMS, PLS-PI showed a distribution that was symmetric for positive values, but included outlying negative estimates. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.     

Supervision of Therapy with Patients Diagnosed as Psychotic

Psychodynamic therapy with psychotics has been reviewed and studied by different analysts such as Searles (1965), Rosenfeld (1988), and others. Nevertheless, there are almost no updated articles on supervision of this therapy. The article addresses this issue and the different aspects of supervision of psychodynamic therapy of psychotics. Therapy-related issues, such as holding, communications and interpretations, differentiation, boundaries, psychotic transference, and countertransference are discussed extensively. We also explore some of the difficulties involved in these processes and the implications for the supervision process.     

Subjective Versus Objective Definitions of Homelessness: Are there Differences in Risk Factors among Heavy-Drinking Women?

Investigations with homeless populations have focused on those living on the streets or in shelters; few have examined phenomena based on respondents’ self-definitions as homeless or not. This investigation examined similarities and differences among risk factors (including mental health, substance abuse, religion/spirituality, social support, and risky sexual behaviors) using two definitions of homelessness: one where place of residence defined individuals as homeless (the ‘objective’ or traditional, definition) and another where respondents defined themselves as homeless (the ‘subjective’ definition). Data come from the baseline survey of the NIAAA-funded “Sister-to-Sister” study (n = 339) of heavy-drinking women. Subjectively defined homelessness was associated with higher rates of mental health and substance use disorders, lower rates of condom use, higher rates of trading sex for food, and less social support. Objectively defined homelessness was associated with higher rates of drinking in abandoned buildings, on the streets, and in public restrooms, more new sexual partners, and higher rates of trading sex for heroin and speedballs. Investigations failing to ask for subjective information may misattribute some factors to homelessness which may overestimate the effect of various factors on homelessness. Investigators should ask respondents to define their homelessness, or they lose an important dimension of the concept of homelessness.

From Customer‐Oriented Strategy to Organizational Financial Performance: The Role of Human Resource Management and Customer‐Linking Capability

Drawing on the organizational capabilities literature, the authors developed and tested a model of how supportive human resource management (HRM) improved firms’ financial performance perceived by marketing managers through fostering the implementation of a customer‐oriented strategy. Customer‐linking capability, which is the capability in managing close customer relationships, indicated the implementation of the customer‐oriented strategy. Data collected from two emerging economies – China and Hungary – established that supportive HRM partially mediated the relationship between customer‐oriented strategy and customer‐linking capability. Customer‐linking capability further explained how supportive HRM contributed to perceived financial performance. This study explicates the implication of customer‐oriented strategy for HRM and reveals the importance of HRM in strategy implementation. It also sheds some light on the ‘black box’ between HRM and performance. While making important contributions to the field of strategy, HRM and marketing, this study also offers useful practical implications.     

L'Accord sur les textiles et les vêtements: effets potentiels sur I'emploi des femmes au Pakistan

Le gouvernement a réalisé que le secteur du textile et de l'habillement est de ceux qui offrent de bonnes perspectives de diversification des exportations, par rapport aux traditionnels produits de base, pour entrer dans l'industrialisation, absorber une main‐d'?uvre nombreuse, combler le fossé qui existe entre le secteur rural et le secteur urbain, atténuer la pauvreté et renforcer l'autonomisation des femmes (ministère des Finances, 2003, c'est nous qui soulignons).     

Wozu Kinder Freunde brauchen

Friends are a very important source for support in childhood. Qualities of voluntary relationship and equality determine which kind of support children can exchange as friends. Children themselves tell about their friends. Interviews show the meaning of friends and their importance in the network of supporters. What is necessary for children to create friendships and what are the effects of friends on development and health of children and adolescents?     

Autism self-advocacy in the Netherlands: past,present and future

This article presents the results of participatory research into the roles and practices of autistic self-advocates in the Netherlands, and the outcomes of their activities. The article discusses the history of Dutch autism self-advocacy, situating it within the history and practices of self-advocacy internationally and the socio-cultural context of the Netherlands. Particular reference is made to Judi Chamberlin’s model for building effective self-advocacy organisations. Key findings include the scope of significant achievements, and the identification of barriers to efficacy in the areas of governance, personal and organisational capacity, relationships with other organisations, and coalition-building. The research concludes by considering what practices could serve to build increased capacity and efficacy, based on the experiences of these and other self-advocates.     

Positive class compromise in globalized production? The Freedom of Association Protocol in the Indonesian sportswear industry

This article investigates the role of voluntary initiatives (VIs) as nongovernmental systems of labour regulation in global value chains (GVCs). To identify the conditions conducive to a more active role for labour in VIs, the authors apply Wright's (2000) theory of the factors enabling positive class compromise to a VI implemented in the Indonesian sportswear industry and extend it to the more complex realities of GVCs. They conclude that if VIs are to create conditions under which decent work can be strengthened, the involvement of strong local labour organizations is required while producers' and/or buyers' dependence on workers' cooperation acts as a catalyst.     

Science,Policy, and Controversy in the Cholesterol Arena

This article investigates the relationships between scientific knowledge and dietary policy in the cholesterol arena, a site of controversy for over 40 years. It draws on the concepts and methods of Anselm Strauss, especially social worlds/arenas theory, to analyze the negotiations and conflicts through which both scientific knowledge and public health policy were created. Science/policy interactions were shaped by shifting distributions of power and legitimacy among many interested social worlds. These shifts reflected changing cultural, commercial, and political conditions which, over the decades, favored the entrenchment of initially provisional and tentative dietary recommendations. The cultural foundations of policy interventions can be as salient as scientific research. They can also contribute to ongoing instability in controversial arenas.