End‐of‐Day Price Manipulation and M&As

Based on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from over 45 countries from 2003 to 2014, we show that the presence of end‐of‐day (EOD) target price manipulation prior to M&As increases the probability of an M&A deal withdrawal, and decreases the premium paid. More detailed exchange trading rules that govern manipulation across countries and over time lower the probability of withdrawal, mitigate the negative impact of EOD manipulation on withdrawal and raise premiums paid. Finally, while there are fewer cases of acquirer price manipulations prior to M&As, the data indicates positive acquirer price manipulation in share M&As and increases the probability of deal withdrawal.     

The relation of sensitivity to provocation and frustration to direct aggression: the mediating role of beliefs about aggression / La relación entre la sensibilidad a la provocación y a la frustración y la agresión directa: el papel mediador de las creencias sobre la agresión

Previous research has suggested that sensitivity to provocation and frustration differently predict aggressive behaviour. In the study reported in this paper, two potential mediators of the relationships among both sensitivities and self-reported aggression were examined, namely instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression. A sample of 318 participants (52% men) took part in the study. Structural Equation Modeling demonstrated that sensitivity to provocation was related to both types of beliefs about aggression, whereas sensitivity to frustration was associated with expressive beliefs. However, only instrumental beliefs mediated the relationship between sensitivity to provocation and both physical and verbal aggression. Analysed variables predicted 46% of the variance in physical aggression and 11% of the variance in verbal aggression. Additionally, men reported higher physical aggression and endorsed more instrumental beliefs than women. Implications for understanding emotional and cognitive mechanisms involved in regulation of aggression are discussed.     

The kitsch-organization 1

The paper discusses kitsch as the discourse of depriving experience of beauty and surprise. It argues that people often construct kitsch when they organize. Three different Kitsch-Organizations are depicted: the Polish communist youth organization from the 1950-ties, a foreign enterprise operating currently in Poland, and a school of organizational behavior.

Kitsch, not being equivalent to “low” or “popular” culture is a degrading construct. Adopted as a second level metaphor to the studies of organizations, it can be of use for critical social constructivist analysis.     

Gastland China beim Soziologiekongress 2006 in Kassel

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Promoting Stability and Development in Fragile and Failed States

There is a growing recognition of the threat to international security posed by failed and fragile states, often marred by serious internal conflict that also has the potential of destabilising neighbouring states and providing ungoverned territory that can provide safe haven for terrorists. The inability of their governments to provide basic services is considered a significant contributory factor. Considerable donor efforts have been mobilised in recent years to help with the post‐conflict reconstruction of states emerging from failure, and to halt the slide of fragile states towards failure, but with mixed effect. The international community needs to focus much more squarely on strengthening the emerging state and increasing its domestic legitimacy, rather than on promoting democracy.     

The role of the controller in strategic capital investment projects: bridging the gap of multiple topoi

Journal of Management and Governance - The literature on capital budgeting and investment proposals is rich with techniques, such as portfolio management and stage-gate project management, which...     

Clarification? Yes! Standarization? No. Or: What Kind of Cooperation for the Sociology of Culture?

Christian Smith’s paper “The Incoherence of ‘Culture’ in American Sociology” is a valuable provocation that can prompt us to reflect on the role of concepts and on the role of agreement on the definition of concepts in scientific research. In this comment paper, I raise questions about Smith’s empirical expectation that sociologists should agree on a concept of culture based on debates in the sociology of science. I also suggest that in terms of the future agenda for the sociology of culture, we should distinguish between dialogue and clarification on the one hand, which I agree is needed, and standardization on the other hand, which seems incompatible with open-minded empirical research. Rather than work on agreement on what culture is, we might work on clarifying relevant distinctions among dimensions of culture.     

‘Western hegemony’ in the social sciences: fields and model systems

This paper discusses the role of privileged research objects (‘model systems’) in producing patterns in transnational knowledge production. In its approach it follows Bourdieu's call to focus on contexts of production and forces internal to disciplines as well as his insistence on practice. Learning from work in science and technology studies it also considers material objects of knowledge and spaces of knowledge-production. It discusses the case of sociology and argues that conventions surrounding privileged research objects matter relatively independently of authors’ national origin or field-position. Examining model systems, I argue, can contribute to our understanding of how some well-established inequalities are produced and reproduced. This focus adds specific stakes to the debates about global knowledge production: we can discuss the problem of neglected cases in ways that are not always included in current reflections that draw on general political – rather than specifically knowledge-political – categories.