Financial planning in a divisionalized firm

In a business environment characterized by rapid technological changes, massive capital outlays, intensive competition, and the administration of complex large scale organizations, future growth and profitability will largely hinge upon reliable and intelligent long range financial planning.

If a business organization is to raise funds at the most reasonable costs and terms in money markets and capital markets, it must plan its cash requirements in advance to have ample time to negotiate effectively with the prospective lenders or their representatives. It is here that long range financial planning makes important contributions to effective financial management.     

Report on the cost-benefit/effectiveness of treatment at the Johns Hopkins Center for Pathological Gambling

It is mandatory that programs, particularly social programs, generate evidence of efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of the treatment of illness. Thus a study was conducted to determine the cost-effectiveness of treatment of pathological gamblers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Pathological Gambling. This Center provides two types of treatment programs: an intensive residential program, and an out-patient program. Although abstinence is but one measure of the success of these programs, they have demonstrated an 80 percent and 90 percent abstention rate respectively, measured at an average of six months after completion of treatment for the residential programs and after six months while in treatment in the out-patient program. Similar high success rates were obtained for the stabilization, maintenance, and/or restoration of families, initiation and maintenance of restitution, indictments saved by restitution or other plans, and return to employment. Data from the Johns Hopkins Center for Pathological Gambling, indicates the benefit to cost ratio of treatment in excess of 20:1. Pathological gambling not only ranks amongst the most expensive illnesses afflicting society, but also is the least expensive to treat and the most cureable when treated. Without public education, and awareness, and without dollars for treatment and research, untreated pathological gambling will far surpass the costs of other catastrophic illnesses as the latter remain the focus of our health care expenditures while the former is ignored.     

Structured approach to the elicitation of expert beliefs for a Bayesian‐designed clinical trial: a case study

To quantify uncertainty in a formal manner, statisticians play a vital role in identifying a prior distribution for a Bayesian‐designed clinical trial. However, when expert beliefs are to be used to form the prior, the literature is sparse on how feasible and how reliable it is to elicit beliefs from experts. For late‐stage clinical trials, high importance is placed on reliability; however, feasibility may be equally important in early‐stage trials. This article describes a case study to assess how feasible it is to conduct an elicitation session in a structured manner and to form a probability distribution that would be used in a hypothetical early‐stage trial. The case study revealed that by using a structured approach to planning, training and conduct, it is feasible to elicit expert beliefs and form a probability distribution in a timely manner. We argue that by further increasing the published accounts of elicitation of expert beliefs in drug development, there will be increased confidence in the feasibility of conducting elicitation sessions. Furthermore, this will lead to wider dissemination of the pertinent issues on how to quantify uncertainty to both practicing statisticians and others involved with designing trials in a Bayesian manner. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parent–Child Interactive Stress in Chinese Families with Children Who Have Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - The situations of Chinese parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other related comorbidities are under-explored in...     

Evaluation des systemischen Verfahrens High Profiling Coaching

High Profiling Coaching? is a method which is based on a biographical interview of the coachee. The interview is then analysed hermeneutically by a team of experts resulting in a competence profile. This profile is handed over to both the coachee and the coach before the start of the coaching process. Thus the face-to-face interaction in the coaching process will be reduced. Methods of qualitative research were used to conduct the evaluation of High Profiling Coaching. The criteria ?reason for coaching“ (voluntarily vs. involuntarily) and ?way of learning“ (Single-, Double-Loop or Deutero learning) were shown to be essential for the evaluation of the method. Using this approach, it was possible to identify the optimal range for applying the method and to assess its sustainability.     

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrator Subtypes and their Developmental Origins: Implications for Prevention and Intervention

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major issue for many Australian families and yet progress towards the development of effective prevention and behaviour change programs has been relatively slow. In this paper, it is proposed that the tendency to treat perpetrators as a homogenous group has hampered progress, and that treatment outcomes can be improved by tailoring treatment responses to a small set of personal and offence‐related characteristics. It explores the developmental origins and trajectories of these presentations and identifies some new directions for further research in this area.     

Zweite Konferenz der Japanischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für deutsche Soziologie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die Einführung des Euro

The Euro takes over far more than the monetary functions of the old national currencies. It creates a new collective consciousness. For the first time, the future European Federal State penetrates noticeably the everyday life of its citizens in terms of coins and notes. So far the European Union has been a distant bureaucracy that was mostly criticized by citizens and mass media alike. However, with any payment made in the future the Euro will literally show citizens that they live rather in Europe than in one of the receding national states. Yet the new presence of Europe in the public consciousness will be complemented by unpleasant topics. A uniform currency fosters an economic integration in which weaker regions will suffer losses. The monetary unification will therefore be joined by a unification of demands: Disadvantaged countries will demand redistribution at the European level. Therefore, critics of the monetary union have repeatedly claimed that the Euro will not unite Europeans but divide them in the end. It is argued that the opposite will be the case: The Euro will turn out to be the most efficient accelerator for building European institutions. Therefore, the real significance of the Euro does not lie in the standardization of monetary functions. Its impact can rather be found on a political level: in the expansion of the European citizenship. The Euro will, gradually but definitely, redirect the public attention to Brussels, Europe’s capital city.