Ausbildung von Schlüsselqualifikationen im Fachbereich Wirtschaft

An important goal of the Bologna Process is the improvement of employability. Universities are required to develop courses for the acquisition of key competences. The Department of Business and Management at Bochum University of Applied Sciences has developed an extensive training program for that offers an introduction to the methods “mentoring”, “coaching” and “group dynamics” to the participants. The acquired skills can be put into practise immediately by mentoring new students.     

What is the “right” market orientation for new entrepreneurial ventures?

A general notion in research on entrepreneurial marketing is that new ventures that adopt both strong market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation outperform other firms. The present research provides a more fine-grained analysis of this common wisdom. First, while extant research focuses on responsive market orientation, this research seeks to differentiate responsive from proactive market orientations in young ventures. Second, the study examines the moderating effects of the degree of entrepreneurial orientation on proactive and responsive market orientation’s performance consequences in the context of new ventures since these ventures must understand which orientations are worth pursuing, especially given their resource constraints. The theoretically developed research model is tested using survey data of 259 ventures in operation less than fifteen years from five national cultures in order to detect national dependencies and establish the robustness of the findings. Recommendations concerning which type of market orientation entrepreneurial and less entrepreneurial new ventures should follow are provided.     

Voting for Catholic Candidates: The Evolution of a Stereotype*

Objectives. This article looks at the effects of candidate Catholicism on individual voters, turning the traditional inquiry into voters' religion on its head. Specifically, it hypothesizes that individuals stereotype Catholic candidates based on the voting behavior of Catholics in general, and that these stereotypes help voters make a decision in elections with Catholic candidates. Methods. Using data from the American National Election Studies (ANES), this article argues that citizens hold stereotypes of Catholics based on actual Catholic political behavior—solidly Democratic from the 1950s to the 1970s, but trending Republican starting in the 1980s. It also tests these stereotypes with Gallup data on hypothetical Catholic candidates and analyzes, through election‐day exit polls, the impact on voters of the Catholic conversion of a sitting U.S. Senator. Results. The data analyses strongly support the article's hypothesis, demonstrating that partisan attitudes toward hypothetical Catholic candidates shifted direction as the Catholic electorate shifted. In addition, Senator Sam Brownback's (R‐KS) conversion to Catholicism increased partisan polarization in his support—indicating a conservative shift in perceptions. Conclusions. Candidate religion plays a role in elections. Specifically, voters stereotype candidates based on candidate religion and use this stereotyped information to help them make an electoral decision. This article demonstrates this effect for Catholicism, but other religions should evidence similar impacts.     

Deadline for Parenthood: Fertility Postponement and Age Norms in Poland

The postponement of childbearing is occurring across Europe, but the paths of this trend differ profoundly from country to country. In Poland, as in other Central and Eastern European countries, most women have their first child at a relatively young age. This article asks about the role of age norms in sustaining the pattern of early motherhood. We investigate young adults’ perceptions of age in relation to their fertility choices. We find that age is, indeed, a salient dimension that structures and regulates individual childbearing plans. The qualitative approach of our study allows for gaining insights into how age norms are explained, argued about and sanctioned. Finally, we reconstruct the mechanisms of the normative influence of age limits (deadlines) on fertility behaviour, improving our understanding of the timing of childbearing.     

College alcohol use: a full or empty glass?

Data from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (1993) were used to describe weekly alcohol consumption and its associated problems among a representative national sample of college students. The median number of drinks consumed/week by all students, regardless of drinking status, was 1.5. When students were divided by drinking pattern, the median number of drinks/week was 0.7 for those who did not binge drink and 3.7 for those who did so infrequently. For frequent binge drinkers, the median was considerably higher: 14.5 drinks/week. Nationally, 1 in 5 five college students is a frequent binge drinker. Binge drinkers consumed 68% of all the alcohol that students reported drinking, and they accounted for the majority of alcohol-related problems. The data indicate that behavioral norms for alcohol consumption vary widely among students and across colleges. Therefore, it may not be possible to design an effective "one size fits all" approach to address college alcohol use.     

Adaptive Test for Testing the Difference in Survival Distributions

An adaptive test is proposed for the problem of testing the difference in survival distributions when the shape of the hazard ratio is unknown, hence the efficient test is unknown. The proposed adaptive test selects a test statistic from a finite set of the weighted logrank statistics T on the basis of the estimates of the efficiencies of the tests in T for given data. The efficiency estimator uses the length of the test based nonparametric confidence interval for the shift in a time transformed shift model. The suggested adaptive test is shown to be asymptotically efficient among the tests in T under the time transformed shift model and conditions commonly used in survival analysis. Simulations demonstrate that the adaptive test enjoys good small sample properties and in most situations is more powerful than the test using the maximum of the tests in T.     

Standpoint theory and middle-range theorizing in International Sociology

This paper responds to Julian Go's Lecture “Thinking against Empire. Anti-colonial Thought and Social Theory.” It proceeds in two parts: I first follow Go's invitation to read and reread Mabel Dove Danquah and Frantz Fanon and explore what their work contributes to our understanding of state-forms. I then examine the terms of Go's invitation more closely. I contrast Go's juxtaposition of imperial sociology on the one hand and anti-colonial sociology on the other hand, with the broader range of theoretical traditions and methods, which a practice-oriented sociology of sociology and an international history of sociology would highlight. I raise the question what “standpoint” adds to the authors Go discusses and the broader range of scholars who have engaged with post-colonial contexts in their research at this point in time. Calling for consideration of the anti-colonial standpoint is a particular choice, which has a distinctive heritage in Hegelian-Marxian projections of the social whole and is in tension with either deep exploration of particular thinkers or the middle-range theorizing that Go also seems to endorse. Defined at a level of abstraction that is “above” (or underneath) actual conversations in a range of fields and subfields, it can appear as a “test” for scholars who have long engaged with post-colonial contexts, which can have unintended consequences when coupled with the institutional power and asymmetric insularity of Anglo-American academia.     

The ‘compliant’, the ‘pacified’ and the ‘rebel’: experiences with Swiss disability insurance

Switzerland’s social policies in the field of disability have been significantly reshaped over the last two decades by reducing the number of allowances awarded and by increasing the recourse to vocational rehabilitation measures. What stances do individuals who experience the implementation of these policies adopt? What kind of tests are they subjected to? How can we explain the posture they adopt – be it ‘compliant’, ‘pacified’ or ‘rebellious’ – when facing the (re)assignations of their identity and professional status? Drawing on interviews conducted with individuals who have recently been involved in programmes set up by Swiss disability insurance, we highlight their uncertainties and concerns relating to their place in society, as well as their reactions to disability insurance’s interventions.