On the malfunction of the generic approach in small voluntary associations

Management and marketing techniques that are of great value in private firms may not prove as important in voluntary and nonprofit organizations. The author highlights problems in the direct application of the so-called generic approach to third sector organizations by examining small voluntary organizations in the Danish sports sector. He argues, first, that it may be unnecessary to apply generic management techniques; second, that it may be dysfunctional with regard to leadership and management; and, third, that the consequences of the chosen (generic) strategies may be detrimental to the function and image of the associations. Instead, theories of organization, strategic management, and marketing should recognize the special mix of competing, complementary, and overlapping values, rationales, and evaluation criteria that characterize small voluntary organizations.     

On the landscape of the relation between Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger

Since Elisabeth Young-Bruehl first revealed it in Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World, 1982, admirers of Hannah Arendt have been troubled by the fact that she was for four years—from 1924 to 1928—the mistress of Martin Heidegger. She was a Jew who fled Germany in August 1933, a few months after Hitler’s assumption of power. He was elected Rector of the University of Freiburg in the spring of 1933, and in a notorious inaugural address hailed the presence of the brown-shirted stormtroopers in his audience, claimed that Hitler would restore the German people to spiritual health, and ended by giving the familiar stiff-armed Nazi salute to cries of “Sieg Heil.” The thought that these two were ever soulmates is hard to swallow. I I am deeply indebted to Guenther Roth and Egon Bittner for important suggestion, which I used to improve an earlier draft of this article. I am grateful for help of many different kinds to Zygmunt Bauman, Inge Castellini, Teresa Gilman, Alison Grossman, Ellen B. Hill, Irving Louis Horowitz, Jonathan B. Imber, Denah Lida, Hans Mohr, Asja Petrović, David Riesman, and Harry Zohn.     

Motives and Decisions for and Against Having Children Among Nonheterosexuals and the Impact of Experiences of Discrimination,Internalized Stigma,and Social Acceptance

Same-sex parents are increasingly a topic of public discourse. A growing number of homosexuals openly speak about their desire to have children or are already living together in different family constellations. The current study examined the decisions for or against having children and the motivations behind those decisions among nonheterosexuals living in Germany. A sample of 1,283 nonheterosexuals participated by means of an online survey. As some nonheterosexual individuals do not identify themselves with a male or female gender identity, a third category, “gender different,” was generated. Motives for (not) having children, perceptions of social acceptance, experiences of discrimination in relation to one's sexual orientation, and levels of internalized stigma were taken into account regarding their influence on the decision about parenthood. Most respondents (80%) reported that they did not have children. However, among this group, 43% stated that they had decided to have children later in their lives, 24% were undecided, and 11% had already decided against having children. The most important influences on the decision of whether to have children were respondents’ age and their desire for emotional stabilization. Negative experiences as a result of sexual orientation and internalized stigma had no impact on the decisions regarding parenthood.     

Migration und Finanzkrise

This paper analyzes the impact of the financial and economic crisis on migration within Europe and towards Germany. The crisis has triggered a diversion of migration flows from the new EU Member States to prospering countries such as Germany rather than a large increase of migration from the mainly affected countries. Novel estimation procedures, which consider systematically conditions in alternative destinations, show that the overwhelming share of the migration surge in Germany can be attributed to the deterioration of economic conditions in alternative destinations. Furthermore, micro data from the new IAB-SOEP migration sample demonstrate that the share of individuals who did not immigrate from their birth countries in all arrivals has significantly increased since the begin of the crisis. The share of individuals, who have been non-employed before their arrival in Germany, has not increased in the course of the crisis. However, average education levels of new arrivals have declined.     

Entwicklung einer auf Resilienz ausgerichteten OrganisationskulturDevelopment of an organizational culture aiming resilience

This article examines how resilience of organizations can be enhanced by promoting their capability for adaptation. In a first step, the current understanding of the conceptualization of organizational resilience is compared to the resilience of individuals and teams. In a second step, the article also aims to illustrate the relationship between organizational resilience and organizational culture. Based on this, the applied research and development project “TeamSafe” in collaboration with a nuclear power plant is described as an example of a resilience-oriented training concept and a method for coping with unknown situations. In this project a multi-methodological approach (observational methods, video analysis and workshops) was chosen in order to identify relevant competencies and combine them with scientific findings. By involving simulator instructors and operating teams during the development process of the training concept, crucial action knowledge of operating teams in a nuclear power plant was gained by observations in the simulator and shared between different teams. This enabled the resilience-oriented development of the organization’s culture.     

Interactive Art Interpretation: How Viewers Make Sense of Paintings in Conversation

This study explores the talk of viewers as they encountered paintings in an art gallery. An inductive analysis of conversations recorded between viewers and one of the researchers resulted in the identification of three categories of art talk: Evaluation, Attraction, and Storytelling. Further, the authors distinguish two design features governing this kind of talk, Narration and Reification. Viewers verbalize their experience of paintings in order to interactively manufacture meaning. This sense‐making process is consequential not merely for the viewers' understanding of the artwork but for their conception of the world, and of themselves and others in it. Perhaps most significant, viewers employ artwork as a material and symbolic resource in the ceaseless interactive fabrication of their own identities.     

Reports of Conferences,Institutes, and Seminars

Abstract

This column covers several conference sessions from the 14th annual Electronic Resources & Libraries Conference, providing guidance on how to navigate ebook duplication, improving documentation and workflows, implementing OpenAthens, and experiences with Project SILLVR (Streaming Interlibrary Loan Video Resources)and knowledge bases and related tools (KBART) automation. There is also a report from IFLA’s SIG Library Publishing Mid-Term meeting, which was an ideological meeting in nature, discussing community building, resource sharing, and status updates. A report from the 2018 Charleston Conference is also included.     

Reports of Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars

Late winter and early spring of 2009 was a busy conference time for librarians. Some of the conferences held during that time are reported herein: the American Library Association Midwinter Conference, January 23–28; Electronic Resources and Libraries (E&RL), February 9–12; the North Carolina Serials Conference, March 27; the New England Technical Services Librarians' (NETSL) Spring Conference, April 17; and the Technical, Electronic and Digital Services Interest Group (TEDSIG) Spring Meeting, April 24.     

Reports of Conferences,Institutes, and Seminars

Five reports cover the 2009 Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians Conference, the COUNTER and Usage Data webinar, the 2009 Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge, the 2009 North American Serials Interest Group Conference, and selected sessions of the 2009 annual conference of the American Library Association in Chicago, Illinois.     

Reports of Conferences,Institutes, and Seminars

A busy time for librarians was late May through early July 2008 with the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians meeting May 14–16, the North American Serials Interest Group meeting June 5–8, and an American Library Association preconference Electronic Serials 101: What I Wished I’d Known Before I Got in Over My Head, June 27.