Ideology and welfare in the UK: the implications for the voluntary sector

The UK has, over recent years, moved from a welfare state to a more market-oriented system of welfare. But the extent of this change has varied considerably according to the ideological position of local government in different parts of the country. This makes it possible within one country to assess the implications for the voluntary sector of different models of welfare. This article develops a framework for looking at different welfare ideologies and the values they espouse, with reference both to the UK and to the models that exist in other countries. It then takes four examples of UK local authorities which demonstrate the different models and examines the implications for the voluntary sector. In doing so, it examines the prospects for the voluntary sector to deliver both service and political pluralism in the future.     

After the Storm: How Race,Class, and Immigration Concerns Influenced Beliefs About the Katrina Evacuees*

Objective. In September 2005, approximately 150,000 Gulf Coast residents fled to Houston, Texas, seeking shelter following Hurricane Katrina. Since the majority of evacuees were poor African Americans, the political and social consequences of the storm inspired a national dialogue on race and class. However, in Houston, the discourse on Katrina evacuees also involved immigration concerns. The city's distinction as a gateway to new arrivals influenced the dialogue on the evacuees' impact on the local area. This article assesses the extent to which race, class, and immigration concerns influenced Houstonians' beliefs about the Katrina evacuees. Methods. We analyze data from the 2006 and 2008 Houston Area Survey in order to assess attitudes toward these newcomers at two distinct time periods: within six months of their arrival and then again more than two years later. Results. Our findings show that both national and local factors influenced beliefs about the Katrina evacuees. Conclusions. The dynamics of race/ethnicity and apprehension toward immigrants drove largely antagonistic beliefs about the mostly poor, mostly black new arrivals.     

Headquarter Services in the Global Integration of Production

This study examines knowledge management within multinational enterprises (MNEs) by analyzing whether greater interdependence of production between U.S. parent firms and their foreign subsidiaries increases the provision of headquarter (HQ) services from the home country. The findings suggest that U.S. parents provide more assistance to their foreign subsidiaries that are linked in a global value chain than to those that are not involved in production sharing. This study builds on the earlier studies of the relationship between intra-MNE product flows and knowledge flows in multiple ways. First, it separately examines the relationship for high-tech and low-tech manufacturing industries, and finds that knowledge services from HQ that could be combined with knowledge of the subsidiary, such as R&D services, are primarily associated with production sharing with subsidiaries in high-tech manufacturing industries, which are assumed to be more technologically capable. Likewise, it finds that knowledge services from HQ that might be considered to be more passively received from the parent, such as industrial-type maintenance and design, are primarily associated with subsidiaries in low-tech manufacturing industries, which are assumed to be less technologically capable. Second, this study is the first one, to our knowledge, that gauges intra-firm knowledge flows using dollar-denominated measures of HQ services provided by parents to their subsidiaries.     

A review of international human resource management: Integration,interrogation, imitation

International human resource management (IHRM) represents an important dimension of international management. Over the past three decades, there has been considerable growth in research and practice in IHRM. While there have been extensive developments in this field, numerous scholars have identified aspects requiring review and revision. Hence, this paper reviews and interrogates the progress in IHRM's theoretical development. The review leads to the conclusion that research in IHRM has tended to emphasize integration over other forms of progress. In response, and in provocation, imitation rather than integration is suggested as an approach for the development of future theoretical and conceptual directions in IHRM.     

Patterns of Stepchild–Stepparent Relationship Development

Thirty‐two stepdaughters and 17 stepsons participated in this grounded theory study of emerging adult stepchildren's perceptions about how relationships with their stepparents developed. The theory created from this study proposes that the degree to which stepchildren engage in relationship‐building and ‐maintaining behaviors with stepparents is a function of stepchildren's evaluative judgments about the stepparents' positive contributions. Stepchildren's judgments about stepparents are made with inputs from biological parents and other kin. Stepchildren's ages when relationships began, gender of stepchildren and stepparents, and time spent together because of custody arrangements provided the context within which relationships developed. The outcomes in this grounded theory were six patterns of step‐relationship development: accepting as a parent, liking from the start, accepting with ambivalence, changing trajectory, rejecting, and coexisting. These patterns of development were distinct trajectories that related closely to qualitatively different stepparent–stepchild relationships. Only 30% of stepchildren with multiple stepparents evaluated them similarly.