Competing with Japan—The rules of the game

This paper explains that, to deal with the Japanese challenge, it is important to understand the comprehensive nature of that challenge. The challenge covers every function and every phase of the product development and marketing cycle. Therefore, solutions must not be piecemeal. In writing this paper, the author draws extensively on his working and consulting experience.     

Child neglect: practitioners' perspectives

The research described here is an exploratory study of child neglect which focuses on practitioners' perspectives. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage was a practitioner workshop from which data were obtained about perceptions of neglect. The second stage consisted of a sample survey of 20 cases registered in the category of neglect. Key workers of these cases were interviewed using semi-structured interview schedules based on material derived from the workshop. Major findings are that neglect is multifactorial and long term. Factors relating to parents/caregivers emerge as being integral to the way practitioners define neglect. Emotional/relational factors are seen to be central to practitioners' understandings of how children come to be neglected and the association between deprivation and neglect is underlined. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alexis de Tocqueville in the twenty-first century: plus ça change,plus c’est la même chose?

Some recent scholarship concerning Alexis de Tocqueville has sought to emphasize aspects of his work that have not previously been seen as central to his ideas. This review essay examines the argument by Swedberg that Tocqueville’s writings on economics are a missing and important theme of his analysis, and those in Locke and Botting’s book that claim he also made significant contributions to feminism. These unorthodox views are explored against the assessments found in Hugh Brogan’s latest biography of the nineteenth century, social and political theorist.     

The rising share of nonmarital births: Fertility choice or marriage behavior?

Much of the sharp rise in the share of nonmarital births in the United States has been attributed to changes in the fertility choices of unmarried and married women-in response, it is often argued, to public policy. In contrast, we develop and test a model that attributes the rise to changes in marriage behavior, with no necessary changes infertility. A variety of empirical tests strongly support this conclusion and invites focused attention to issues related to marriage behavior as well as to the interactions between marriage and fertility.     

Formalized Dissent and Cognitive Complexity in Group Processes and Performance*

Research suggests that two methods of introducing dissent, the dialectic inquiry (DI) and devil's advocate (DA) methods, show promise for increasing the cognitive complexity of decision makers. We investigated the joint effects of formalized dissent and group cognitive complexity by manipulating the formalized dissent method (DI or DA) used by 25 interacting groups engaged in a complex, ill-structured planning task. Participants were classified as either high or low cognitive complexity and assigned to stratified groups with members of homogeneous complexity. Results indicated that: (1) DA groups produced higher quality assumptions but took longer to generate plans than did DI groups, (2) high complexity groups generated more recommendations relative to low complexity groups, and (3) DA groups with low complexity members produced lower quality recommendations and participated less equally in decision making than did the other groups. We conclude by discussing the implications of the results for formalized dissent, cognitive complexity, and assessing managerial performance.     

A Comparison of Affect Ratings Obtained with Ecological Momentary Assessment and the Day Reconstruction Method

Measurement of affective states in everyday life is of fundamental importance in many types of quality of life, health, and psychological research. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is the recognized method of choice, but the respondent burden can be high. The day reconstruction method (DRM) was developed by Kahneman and colleagues (Science, 2004, 306, 1776–1780) to assess affect, activities and time use in everyday life. We sought to validate DRM affect ratings by comparison with contemporaneous EMA ratings in a sample of 94 working women monitored over work and leisure days. Six EMA ratings of happiness, tiredness, stress, and anger/frustration were obtained over each 24 h period, and were compared with DRM ratings for the same hour, recorded retrospectively at the end of the day. Similar profiles of affect intensity were recorded with the two techniques. The between-person correlations adjusted for attenuation ranged from 0.58 (stress, working day) to 0.90 (happiness, leisure day). The strength of associations was not related to age, educational attainment, or depressed mood. We conclude that the DRM provides reasonably reliable estimates both of the intensity of affect and variations in affect over the day, so is a valuable instrument for the measurement of everyday experience in health and social research.     

The Black-White Gap in Non Marital Fertility: Education and Mates in Segmented Marriage Markets

This study is the first to find that mate availability explains much of the race gap in non marital fertility in the United States. Both a general and an education-based metric have strong effects. The novel statistical power arises from difference-in-differences for blacks and whites, multiple cohorts, periods, and coefficient restrictions consistent with both the data and models in which differences in mate availability can induce blacks and whites to respond in opposite directions to changes in mate availability. Results are robust to several alternative specifications and tests and appear relevant where marriages are segmented along racial, religious, or other lines.     

Opting Back In: The Influence of Time at Home on Professional Women's Career Redirection after Opting Out

Limited research on professional women's labour force re‐entry after a career break (so‐called ‘opting out’) finds that women redirect away from former careers. Little is known about why this occurs. Our study, based on in‐depth interviews with 54 at‐home mothers, extends prior research to address this question. We find that among women who intended to return to work (who constitute the majority), most planned to pursue alternative careers, typically in traditionally female‐dominated professions or were uncertain about their career direction; few planned to return to their former employers. The reasons for this redirection were women's negative experiences in family inflexible occupations, skill depreciation and perceived age discrimination. Equally or more important, however, was their adaptation to new constraints and opportunities at home (such as increased involvement in mothering and community work), which engendered an aspirational shift towards new, care‐oriented professions that were lower paid and had lower status. We discuss the policy implications of these findings.