Hard to reach and easy to ignore: the drinking careers of young people not in education,employment or training

Young people's drinking in the UK remains a matter of medical, social, media and political concern. The notion of transition and drinking styles in the move from childhood to adulthood and from education to employment has been central to understanding young people's drinking behaviour, but little is known about how the drinking patterns of those not in education or employment, both men and women, develop over time. This paper reports on research which aimed to examine the current drinking habits and drinking careers of young people not in education employment and training who are traditionally described as hard to reach. In‐depth qualitative interviews were undertaken with 23 young people: 15 women and 8 men aged between 14 and 23. The findings are presented with respect to three stages of drinking: starting, continuing or increasing, and decreasing or stopping. The conclusions indicate that for the majority of these young people, alcohol is a significant factor in their lives and that peers, gender, time and place combine to structure both their current alcohol use and drinking career. The paper argues that an understanding of young people's drinking career development and current alcohol use will help target effective social work and multi‐agency intervention.     

Re‐imagining public service

We live at a time marked by growing distrust of democratic institutions and increasing threats to those Enlightenment values that afford the individual protection from the arbitrary exercise of authoritarian power. In the face of such challenges, we need to re‐imagine more agile, adaptive and responsive forms of governance. This edited speech argues that with sufficient political authority, public services can facilitate the commissioning of programme delivery, cross‐sectoral collaboration, new forms of social investment in public good and more opportunities for participatory engagement by citizens.     

Evacuation from Natural Disasters: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Research on evacuation from natural disasters has been published across the peer‐reviewed literature among several disparate disciplinary outlets and has suggested a wide variety of predictors of evacuation behavior. We conducted a systematic review to summarize and evaluate the current literature on demographic, storm‐related, and psychosocial correlates of natural disaster evacuation behavior. Eighty‐three eligible papers utilizing 83 independent samples were identified. Risk perception was a consistent positive predictor of evacuation, as were several demographic indicators, prior evacuation behavior, and having an evacuation plan. The influence of prior experiences, self‐efficacy, personality, and links between expected and actual behavior were examined less frequently. Prospective, longitudinal designs are relatively uncommon. Although difficult to conduct in postdisaster settings, more prospective, methodologically rigorous studies would bolster inferences. Results synthesize the current body of literature on evacuation behavior and can help inform the design of more effective predisaster evacuation warnings and procedures.     

The Revival of Non‐Traditional State Actors' Interests in Africa: Does it Matter for Policy Autonomy?

Africa's external relations are currently undergoing major changes. Non‐traditional state actors like China and India are reviving their ties with African economies and thereby affecting power relations between African states and traditional partners. Meanwhile, high commodity prices and improved credit ratings make external finance available for African governments. This article examines how non‐traditional state actors affect the possibility of African governments setting and funding their own development priorities. It argues that while the current situation may increase the policy autonomy for African economies this is largely a consequence of the increased availability of external finance – and not just from non‐traditional state actors.     

A longitudinal study of the effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on objective and perceived corporate performance

We investigated the combined effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on perceived and objective company performance using a longitudinal design. Employees (N = 1214) in 46 branches of a large Dutch bank rated branch management on charismatic leadership, organizational culture in terms of work practices, as well as perceived organizational performance. Objective performance data were collected twice, two years apart. The split sample technique attenuated common source bias. Results of structural equation modeling, in which Time 1 financial performance measures were controlled, revealed that charisma increased financial performance; however culture did not do so. Culture and charisma were significantly related to perceived performance, and culture and charisma were interrelated. A longer time interval may be necessary before the effects of culture on financial performance become apparent. The findings are discussed against the backdrop of the value of intangible resources.     

Airline Safety Improvement Through Experience with Near‐Misses: A Cautionary Tale

In recent years, the U.S. commercial airline industry has achieved unprecedented levels of safety, with the statistical risk associated with U.S. commercial aviation falling to 0.003 fatalities per 100 million passengers. But decades of research on organizational learning show that success often breeds complacency and failure inspires improvement. With accidents as rare events, can the airline industry continue safety advancements? This question is complicated by the complex system in which the industry operates where chance combinations of multiple factors contribute to what are largely probabilistic (rather than deterministic) outcomes. Thus, some apparent successes are realized because of good fortune rather than good processes, and this research intends to bring attention to these events, the near‐misses. The processes that create these near‐misses could pose a threat if multiple contributing factors combine in adverse ways without the intervention of good fortune. Yet, near‐misses (if recognized as such) can, theoretically, offer a mechanism for continuing safety improvements, above and beyond learning gleaned from observable failure. We test whether or not this learning is apparent in the airline industry. Using data from 1990 to 2007, fixed effects Poisson regressions show that airlines learn from accidents (their own and others), and from one category of near‐misses—those where the possible dangers are salient. Unfortunately, airlines do not improve following near‐miss incidents when the focal event has no clear warnings of significant danger. Therefore, while airlines need to and can learn from certain near‐misses, we conclude with recommendations for improving airline learning from all near‐misses.     

Loyalty Programmes: Current Knowledge and Research Directions*

Loyalty programmes (LPs) have increased in number and popularity, but their effects on customer behaviour remain equivocal, due to a lack of understanding of the drivers of LP effectiveness and insufficient generalizable conclusions across prior studies. This paper synthesizes current knowledge pertaining to LPs, reconciles opposing findings by exploring the conditions that mediate and moderate the effects of LP participation on consumer responses, and charts important avenues for research. Overall, we find that LPs are effective in increasing consumer purchase behaviours over time, but the impact differs across consumer segments and markets. Currently, neither firms nor consumers fully benefit from the opportunities that LPs offer. To that end, we identify aspects which help researchers and practitioners increase their understanding of LP benefits and pitfalls. Through this study, companies that already have LPs will be able to improve their performance, and those that are about to introduce one will better understand the implications of the LP launch.