Employers' knowledge and attitudes regarding organizational policy toward workers caring for aging family members

The study examined employers' knowledge of and attitudes toward working carers who care for aging family members. The study was based on the ecological model. One hundred employers were interviewed using structured questionnaires and 13 employers by additional in-depth interviews. Both research instruments included areas of disruption to the organization, existing policies, and feasibility as to developing appropriate policies to support working carers. Results show that caregiving caused a disruption in workers' functioning mainly by being absent, leaving work early, and coming to work late. Usually, there was "no policy," and half of the employers did not support introducing such a policy. Women managers in public organizations, who had less seniority and less previous experience with working-carers, tended to be more positive about supportive policies. Recommendations are included.     

Incentive for Peer‐to‐Peer Knowledge Sharing among Farmers in Developing Economies

This study examines the peer‐to‐Peer interactions among farmers when both knowledge learning and sharing are available. We construct a stylized model in which heterogeneous farmers are endowed with their initial production capabilities and can post questions in the platform for help. A representative expert regularly monitors the forum and provides answers to the farmers’ questions, but may be non‐responsive sometimes due to the limited capacity. A knowledgeable core user (farmer) can choose to be silent or responsive, and is allowed to strategically determine the informativeness of her answers. The farmers face the minimum quantity restriction for attracting the buyers, and must make production before the time of sales. We show that in equilibrium the core user never provides answers that are more informative than the expert's, irrespective of her ex ante knowledge level. Redesigning or restructuring the platform does not help eliminate this inefficient knowledge provision. We also find that hiring more staff to frequently monitor the forum turns out to be detrimental for the peer‐to‐peer interactions. Moreover, the competition on knowledge sharing between the platform expert and the core user features strategic complementarity sometimes but strategic substitution at other times. Third, charging for the platform usage may discourage uninformative answers, but it could also discourage the core user from sharing knowledge with other farmers.     

Pop-up messages on electronic gaming machines in New Zealand: experiences and views of gamblers and venue staff

In New Zealand, a pop-up message feature that interrupts gambling is mandatory on all electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in all venues. The present research documented the views and experiences of pop-up messages from a range of gamblers and gambling venue staff. A series of focus groups was held with 40 gamblers (ranging from infrequent gamblers to current/former problem gamblers), and 19 staff from casino and non-casino venues. Most participants thought that pop-up messages were ineffective as a harm-minimization measure. Venue staff participants viewed pop-up messages much more negatively than gamblers, who were generally accepting of their existence and sometimes described them as useful. Venue staff participants were also very negative about the additional hassles and confusion they believed to be caused by pop-up messages, and a range of problems they perceived with their accuracy. Nonetheless, there was a consistent although less prevalent view that pop-up messages were useful in reducing gambling harm and potentially bringing harmful gamblers to the attention of others. Participants raised some possibilities for enhancing their effectiveness; these were generally consistent with the evidence base developed since the introduction of pop-up messages in the New Zealand gambling environment.     

Service tasks of board of directors: A literature review and research agenda in an era of new governance practices

In their seminal review article on board of directors, Johnson, Daily, and Ellstrand (1996) distinguished between the control, service, and resource dependence tasks of the board and called for a stronger focus on board service tasks. Following this call, service tasks of boards have been subject to increased scholarly attention, with new theoretical perspectives and methods introduced. This paper aims at presenting the current state of research on board service tasks, departing from, and building on, the contribution of Johnson and colleagues. In doing so, we employ an Input-Process-Output-Context framework and craft an agenda for how future research could accommodate new governance practices and progress the field. Our review is relevant and timely as studies on the subject are gaining traction both in corporate governance and general management journals. Furthermore, our review on board service tasks proposes new alternative approaches to studying corporate governance which are especially appropriate in times in which a rethink of corporate governance frameworks and concepts is urgently needed.     

Dispositions to Act in Favor of the Environment: Fatalism and Readiness to Make Sacrifices in a Cross‐National Perspective1

This article hypothesizes that individuals’ environmental attitudes depend not only on their knowledge, interests, emotions, and values but also on the social context in which they live. We test this hypothesis by analyzing the 2000/01 ISSP‐II Survey on Environmental Attitudes; the data include respondents from 23 countries. Our findings show that individual characteristics influence both “pessimistic environmental orientations” and “the willingness to act in favor of the environment.” As for social context, the level of development and affluence, the degree of political centralization, the presence of green movements and parties, and the degree of objective pollution in a country are all important. However, their influences on fatalism and willingness vary.     

The social worker's style

The style of the social work practitioner is a very influential factor for therapeutic effectiveness and is a way of expressing the practitioner's creative artistry. The meanings and functions of style are clarified. The practitioner's general style is analyzed as a combination of personal and professional style elements, responsive to artistic role-task performances in helping clients. A case presentation illustrates a social worker's particular style. Wider cultural influences of a practitioner's style also merit recognition.