Imaginative Erkundung der Organisationskultur einer psychiatrischen Tagesklinik

In this contribution a representation of the organizational culture of a psychiatric day-time hospital is developed by analyzing the symbolic meanings of action taken by professionals during their daily work and their relations to other patients.After a short summary of concepts of symbolic action theory as developed by E. E. Boesch in the framework of cultural psychology, these are applied to data from two meetings of professional supervision. The data reports about imaginations and phantasms of individual team members (from individual interviews) as well as findings from a group discussion. The analysis results in hypothetic constructions of the individual phantasms and of the organizational myths, directing their actions.This finally results in ‘value orientations’ expressing the organizational culture which are especially valuable for the purpose of respectful supervision. The author regards the careful consideration of the dynamics between individual phantasms and group myths as being a central task of good practices of supervision, with the aim to develop the action potential of professionals and their patients in such a way that it is well-adapted to both autonomy and cultural frame.     

Impact of the psychosocial work environment on registered absence from work: A two-year longitudinal study using the IPAW cohort

During the Intervention Project on Absence and Well-being (IPAW), a 5-year project conducted in Denmark, we investigated psychosocial work environment factors as independent predictors of the number of absence days per year. The present two-year longitudinal study used the IPAW cohort, but was not intended to study intervention effects, which will be reported later. Data were derived from baseline questionnaires and employers’ registers of absence for 1919 participants (1305 women, 614 men, mainly in low-skilled jobs) in different occupations from 52 workplaces. These workplaces included municipal care, municipal technical services and a large pharmaceutical company. Analyses were performed by Poisson regression accounting for over-dispersion. After controlling for age, family type, health behaviours and physical work environment variables, we found that high levels of decision authority predicted low absence rates in both women and men. We tested two new psychosocial constructs developed for this study: Predictability (relating to being informed on future events at work) and Meaning of Work (relating to how meaningful and useful the work is perceived to be). Higher Predictability was a significant predictor of lower absence rates in men. This study adds to the body of evidence that the psychosocial working environment influences absence and should therefore be considered to be an important target for intervention.     

On current issues in defence systems analysis and combat modelling

Summarizing the discussions of the 1982 symposium sponsored by NATO's Defence Research Group and directed by this author, the paper puts forward some major issues in defence systems analysis and combat modelling related to: (1) the architectural approaches to the design of military campaign simulation models; (2) the verification and validation of models; (3) the employment of combat simulation, field trials and exercises in an exploratory research mode in order to gain insights rather than supporting solutions; (4) the use of interactive combat models to obtain a better understanding of cognitive functions in command and control, especially also with a view to structuring knowledge bases for military expert systems; (5) the type and use of planning models permitting the defence planner to arrive at robust solutions to his problems, not least with regard to possible responses by the potential antagonists.     

Unabhängigkeit des Abschlussprüfers — Zum Einfluss von Beratungsleistungen auf Unabhängigkeitswahrnehmungen von Aktionären

Zusammenfassung  Gleichzeitige Beratungst?tigkeit kann die Unabh?ngigkeit des Abschlussprüfers gef?hrden. Ausgel?st durch zahlreiche Bilanzskandale wurden sowohl die internationalen als auch die nationalen Unabh?ngigkeitsnormen versch?rft. Die Existenz von mandantenspezifischen Quasi-Renten erkl?rt das Unabh?ngigkeitsproblem und dessen Versch?rfung durch Beratungsauftr?ge. Aus der bisherigen internationalen empirischen Forschung l?sst sich schlie?en, dass weniger die tats?chliche als vielmehr die wahrgenommene Unabh?ngigkeit des Abschlussprüfers beeintr?chtigt wird. Dagegen zeigen die bisherigen deutschen Studien mehrheitlich keinen negativen Einfluss auf Unabh?ngigkeitswahrnehmungen. Die Unabh?ngigkeitswahrnehmungen von Aktion?ren wurden allerdings bislang noch nicht untersucht. Bei gleichzeitiger Beratungst?tigkeit nehmen Aktion?re eine Beeintr?chtigung der Unabh?ngigkeit wahr. Eine Analyse von 19 verschiedenen Beratungsleistungen zeigt, dass das Ausma? der wahrgenommenen Unabh?ngigkeitsbeeintr?chtigung mit der Art der Beratungsleistung variiert. Zahlreiche Beratungsleistungen werden als kritisch wahrgenommen, obwohl diese nicht ausdrücklich verboten sind. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Personalberatung. Eine personelle Trennung von Prüfung und Beratung innerhalb der Prüfungsgesellschaft erh?ht die wahrgenommene Unabh?ngigkeit.

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Auditor’ independence — The impact of advisory services on shareholders’ perceptions of independence —

Summary  The provision of non-audit advisory services (NAS) can endanger auditor independence. Recently, a number of changes have not only been made to the relevant international and US regulations, but also to the German regulations on this area. Theoretical research explains the emergence of non-independence and demonstrates that the provision of NAS can decrease independence. According to the economic model by DeAngelo, the existence of client-specific quasi rents impairs auditor independece. The provision of NAS increases quasi rents, and thus it is a threat to independence. A large number of empirical studies have investigated the influence of NAS on the perceived auditor independence. Most of these studies were performed in Anglo-Saxon countries, particularly in the US, and a majority found a negative impact. Six studies are based on data from Germany. Most of them failed to find a significant negative impact on auditor’s independence. German investors have not been surveyed so far. Thus an empirical investigation of the impact of NAS on investors’ perceptions of auditor independence in Germany seemed promising. It was found that shareholders generally perceive a negative effect on auditor’s independence if NAS are provided. The effects of 19 different services have been analysed. For most of them a negative effect was found, even if these services are not explicitly prohibited in Germany. Furthermore, it was shown that the type of NAS influences the degree to which auditor independence is perceived to be impaired. Thus independence rules related to NAS should be differentiated. Additionally, the study ascertained that perceived auditor independence does increase if NAS are provided by a separate department of the audit firm.

Die Autoren danken Herrn Prof. Dr. Norbert Krawitz für die ausgezeichnete Betreuung, Frau Prof. Dr. Marleen Willekens für hilfreiche Hinweise sowie den anonymen Gutachtern für die detaillierte Durchsicht des Manuskriptes und zahlreiche wertvolle Verbesserungsvorschl?ge.     

New venture financing in Germany: Effects of firm and owner characteristics

Entrepreneurial activity by new ventures is an important driver of economic growth. Yet obtaining sufficient and/or appropriate financial means often represents a considerable challenge to entrepreneurs. Notably, reliable empirical evidence on financing patterns of young enterprises in Germany has so far been scarce. Using data from the KfW/ZEW Start-up Panel, a new large-scale dataset of newly founded ventures, we provide a comprehensive overview of financing structures and their firm- and owner-related drivers in German start-ups within the first months of their existence. Conceptually, we find pecking-order theory to hold for new ventures in Germany, although individual motives lead to partially deviant financing patterns. Moreover, our findings indicate that the extent of financing and the choice of capital sources are both driven by a multitude of firm as well as owner characteristics.