Managers' Perspectives on Making Major Investment Decisions: the Problem of Linking Strategic and Financial Appraisal

Major investment decisions are an important factor shaping strategic change in complex organisations. Traditionally, they have been primarily regarded as the domain of financial theory, with a few notable exceptions. This paper explores how the apparent gulf between strategic and financial appraisal of major investment decisions can be bridged. The approach taken in this research study was to explore linkages between strategic and financial appraisal from managers' own perspectives. These perspectives were examined through a learning process. This enabled managers to reflect and debate on their experiences and issues - upon both strategic and financial theory(s). Unlike many prior studies, this research took a qualitative approach to data analysis and interpretation. This yielded a range of insights - some of these amplified findings in earlier research studies; others suggested a more radical shift in thinking on strategic/financial appraisal linkages towards a closer fusion of the two disciplines.     

Testing for monotonic trend in time series based on resampling methods

In this paper, we propose several tests for monotonic trend based on the Brillinger's test statistic (1989, Biometrika, 76, 23–30). When there are highly correlated residuals or short record lengths, Brillinger's test procedure tends to have significance level much higher than the nominal level. It is found that this could be related to the discrepancy between the empirical distribution of the test statistic and the asymptotic normal distribution. Hence, in this paper, we propose three bootstrap-based procedures based on the Brillinger's test statistic to test for monotonic trend. The performance of the proposed test procedures is evaluated through an extensive Monte Carlo simulation study, and is compared to other trend test procedures in the literature. It is shown that the proposed bootstrap-based Brillinger test procedures can well control the significance levels and provide satisfactory power performance in testing the monotonic trend under different scenarios.     

A new role for imaging in the diagnosis of physical elder abuse: results of a qualitative study with radiologists and frontline providers

Pediatric radiologists play a key role in the detection of child abuse through the identification of characteristic injury patterns. Emergency radiologists have the potential to play an equally important role in the detection of elder physical abuse; however, they currently play little to no part in this effort. We examine the reasons behind this limited role, and potential strategies to expand it, by interviewing attending faculty from Emergency Radiology, Geriatrics, Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Radiology, and Pediatrics. Our interviews revealed that radiologists’ contribution to elder abuse detection is currently limited by gaps in training, gaps in knowledge about imaging correlates, and gaps in inter-team clinical communication. Specifically, radiographic interpretation of elder trauma is severely restricted by lack of communication between frontline providers and radiologists about patients’ injury mechanism and functional status. Improving this communication and re-conceptualizing ED workflow is critical to expanding and optimizing radiologists’ role in elder abuse detection.     

Optimal experimental plan for multi-level stress testing with Weibull regression under progressive Type-II extremal censoring

In the design of constant-stress life-testing experiments, the optimal allocation in a multi-level stress test with Type-I or Type-II censoring based on the Weibull regression model has been studied in the literature. Conventional Type-I and Type-II censoring schemes restrict our ability to observe extreme failures in the experiment and these extreme failures are important in the estimation of upper quantiles and understanding of the tail behaviors of the lifetime distribution. For this reason, we propose the use of progressive extremal censoring at each stress level, whereas the conventional Type-II censoring is a special case. The proposed experimental scheme allows some extreme failures to be observed. The maximum likelihood estimators of the model parameters, the Fisher information, and asymptotic variance–covariance matrices of the maximum likelihood estimates are derived. We consider the optimal experimental planning problem by looking at four different optimality criteria. To avoid the computational burden in searching for the optimal allocation, a simple search procedure is suggested. Optimal allocation of units for two- and four-stress-level situations is determined numerically. The asymptotic Fisher information matrix and the asymptotic optimal allocation problem are also studied and the results are compared with optimal allocations with specified sample sizes. Finally, conclusions and some practical recommendations are provided.     

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME AS VERNACULAR RESOURCE

First coined in 1973 to describe a pathological response on the part of individuals involved in kidnapping or hostage‐taking situations, the label “Stockholm syndrome” has since been used in a much broader range of contexts including reference to wife battering and human trafficking, and in debates about gender and race politics as well as international relations. Tracing the domain expansion of Stockholm syndrome since the 1970s, we examine how the label offers claims‐makers a device for neutralizing the arguments of those with opposing points of view, and, in so doing, reinforces collective narratives and “formula stories” of victimization.     

A comparative study of tests for paired lifetime data

In this paper, we investigate different procedures for testing the equality of two mean survival times in paired lifetime studies. We consider Owen’s M-test and Q-test, a likelihood ratio test, the paired t-test, the Wilcoxon signed rank test and a permutation test based on log-transformed survival times in the comparative study. We also consider the paired t-test, the Wilcoxon signed rank test and a permutation test based on original survival times for the sake of comparison. The size and power characteristics of these tests are studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations under a frailty Weibull model. For less skewed marginal distributions, the Wilcoxon signed rank test based on original survival times is found to be desirable. Otherwise, the M-test and the likelihood ratio test are the best choices in terms of power. In general, one can choose a test procedure based on information about the correlation between the two survival times and the skewness of the marginal survival distributions.     

Parental grief in three societies: networks and religion as social supports in mourning

How do people respond to the grief of parents over the death of their infant child? This article documents the experience of one of the authors, an American married to a Russian whose child died in England. Responses to this death by friends, colleagues and family in the USA, England, and two cities in Russia varied considerably in terms of depth and degree of engagement (emotional engagement, respect, or distance and avoidance). What factors underlie these varied responses? Two are identified, one structural, the other cultural: the strength of the social ties within social networks, and religiosity as historically sedimented within a culture. The degree of engagement is correlated with network form; but the content of engagement depends on religiosity.     

Exploring Potential 'Extra-Familial' Child Homicide Assailants in the UK and Estimating their Homicide Rate: Perception of Risk--The Need for Debate

High-profile child murders lead parents to fear for their children’ssafety, but perception of risk is often at variance with reality.We explore the numbers of potential ‘Extra-familial’child homicide assailants in the United Kingdom and estimatetheir actual murder rate to determine risk levels. A South ofEngland study, equivalent to a 4 per cent sample of the UK population,of a decade of consecutive child homicides identified the characteristicsof child homicide assailants, finding that the most frequentassailants—the ‘Intra-familial’—werevery different from ‘Extra-familial’ assailants.‘Extra-familial’ killers were all males, aged nineteento forty-two, with convictions for Violent-Multi-Criminal-Child-Sex-Abuse(VMCCSA) offences and Multi-Criminal-Child-Sex-Abuse (MCCSA),whose victims were aged seven-plus years. Projecting these characteristicsonto the male UK population enables us to estimate the numbersof potential UK ‘Extra-familial’ assailants, whichare set against known UK child (five to fourteen) homicides(WHO, 2005). To account for any ‘hidden’ child homicides,deaths in the ‘undetermined’ violent death category,designated ‘Other External Cause’ (OEC), are calculatedto provide a ‘maximum’ child homicide rate. Therewere potentially 912 VMCCSA and 886 MCCSA ‘Extra-familial’offenders in the United Kingdom, who could be responsible forthe WHO-reported UK three-year average of ‘Extra-family’fifteen child homicide and seventeen OEC deaths per annum; ahomicide rate of 12,061 per million (pm) for VMCCSA and 3,386pm for MCSA, which is 1.21 and 0.34 per cent; however, the VMCCSAhomicide rate was 403 times greater than the all children accidentand cancer death rates. Though the vast majority of these potentialassailants did not kill, comparatively, they are extremely dangerous.Practice and ethical issues are debated, which considers activeoutreach for the ‘treatable’ to possible ‘reviewable’custodial sentences for the VMCCSA.     

Paradoxes of Sexuality,Gay Identity,and the Closet

In this project, I illustrate how eight premises of sexuality, gay identity, and the closet contribute to the existence of paradox, an interactional situation constituted by contradiction. I first outline the following premises: gay identity is (1) inextricably tied to the metaphor of the closet; coming out is necessary when gay identity (2) is invisible; the closet draws meaning (3) only in relation to heteronormative contexts; gay identity, as a (4) stigmatized identity, makes coming out a (5) potentially dangerous act; coming out is conceived of as a (6) necessary and important, (7) discrete and linear, (8) inescapable and ever‐present process. I then use autoethnography to describe and analyze the lived experience of paradox in terms of these premises. I conclude by formulating ways a gay person can negotiate paradox in, and by way of, interaction.