Common Themes in Midlife Career Transitions

This discussion of unsolicited but tightly linked articles looks at general and specific themes related to career transitions for adults. A global overview is followed by summaries of each article and a conclusion section. Overall, the articles have much to offer theorists, researchers, and career counselors.     

Population distribution and economic development in Africa: The need for urbanization policies

Many countries in Africa are facing severe development problems because of high rates of population growth, stagnant or declining agricultural productivity, and increasing migration of the rural poor to large cities. Most demographic studies of Africa ignore problems arising from the spatial distribution of population and public allocation of investment. Strategic planning of the location of development investments in ways that will prevent or reduce excessive concentration of population and productive activities in large primary cities is becoming increasingly important for many African governments. In this article it is argued that the excessive growth of primary cities in predominantly rural countries can be detrimental to their economic recovery. Policies encouraging more widespread distribution of population in secondary cities and towns and policies promoting investment in physical infrastructure, marketing, small-scale manufacturing, and agroprocessing in secondary cities and towns can provide a stronger base for both rural and urban development in many African countries in the future.     

Truth,misinterpretation, or left-wing McCarthyism?

It is “left-wing McCarthyism” to suggest that there was anything morally questionable or idiosyncratic about Talcott Parsons's 1948 effort to recruit displaced Soviet citizens for the Harvard Russian Research Center. There is no definite evidence that any of the people Parsons interviewed were “war criminals” by Nuremberg standards. The suggestion that Parsons aided possible Nazi collaborators stems from an ideologically motivated unwillingness to recognize the totalitarian and expansionist nature of the Soviet Union under Stalin which is unworthy of serious consideration.     

Communication between Managers and Staff in the NHS: Trends and Prospects

The importance of the role of communication in the success of individual performance in social and business life is now widely recognized. Within organizations, effective internal communication between managers and staff is vital to organizational success. This is particularly so during periods of change, when staff uncertainty increases and there is an increased need for greater amounts of information and more frequent communication. Staff in the NHS have recently experienced some quite dramatic changes in their working practices. This paper therefore examines the current state of communication within the NHS and the implications which this poses for the overall functioning of the organization. In particular, the relationship between communication and the motivation of staff is described. The nature of communication audits, the main research approach used to assesses communication effectiveness, is then delineated, and areas of the NHS chosen for analysis by this means are proposed. The results of a series of audits are summarized. Problems in information flow, use of information sources and channels, the timeliness of information exchanged, the extent to which people send information to each other and the quality of working relationships are identified. The implications of these findings for the NHS and general views of management are considered.