Can we count on each other? Reciprocity and conflicts in financial support in Sweden

Espvall M, Dellgran P. Can we count on each other? Reciprocity and conflicts in financial support in Sweden
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 84–94 © 2008 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article explores the experiences of reciprocity and conflicts in social relationships, and how these experiences are related to financial support (loans and gifts) in the wider social network. The balance of exchange within the social network as a whole is considered in relation to socio‐demographic features, financial conditions and the availability of social relationships. The data are drawn from a study of financial support exchange in Sweden based on a representative survey among Swedish citizens (n= 500). The results reveal that people living in economic hardship and who have more problematic life circumstances appear to be at risk of receiving more limited informal financial support and experience more feelings of conflict and nonreciprocal social relations.     

Social Support and its Correlation with Loneliness and Subjective Well-being: A Cross-cultural Study of Older Nepalese Adults

Population aging in Nepal is a recent phenomenon, due more to demographic changes than to socio-economic development. The study had three goals: to analyze the social support exchange among elderly men and women; to discover the main sources of support in loneliness and subjective well-being in the elderly; and to study the cross-cultural differences in support among elderly Chhetri ( N  = 137, mean age = 69.1 [7.2] years) and Newar people ( N  = 195, mean age = 68.8 [7.7] years) in one ward in Kathmandu. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews. The dependent variables were loneliness and subjective well-being (SWB). The results for both ethnic Chhetri and Newar respondents show that their major support comes from their children living in the same household and their spouses. I conclude that the sources of social support and social support exchange are similar between the two castes/ethnicities and that there are no cross-cultural differences between them in terms of support for loneliness and SWB-life stability, although there are cross-cultural differences in their SWB-life satisfaction. Providing social support to friends and neighbors appears to be related to less loneliness and increased SWB in both castes/ethnicities.     

明代武官优养制度述略

档案资料记载表明代武官及其家属的优养,主要包括对老疾武官、残疾应袭舍人及故官遗母、妻、女等人的优养。明朝在前代的基础上,建立健全了武官优养体系,取得了良好的效果,但也表现出明显的历史局限性,永乐元年新旧官的划分,人为地造成武官之间的不平等,导致军队内部的分化,其影响深远。     

导游人员组织承诺与离职倾向关系实证研究——以广东佛山为例

采用SPSS13.0软件对问卷调查的统计数据进行因素分析、相关分析和回归分析,结果显示导游人员的组织承诺与离职倾向之间存在着显著的负相关关系,感情承诺和经济承诺对离职倾向有显著的预测性。为此,旅行社应着重实行＂以人为本＂的管理方式,提高导游人员的感情承诺,设计合理的薪酬体系,提高导游人员的经济承诺,达到降低导游人员离职率的目的。     

Posterior consistency of logistic Gaussian process priors in density estimation

We establish weak and strong posterior consistency of Gaussian process priors studied by Lenk [1988. The logistic normal distribution for Bayesian, nonparametric, predictive densities. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 83 (402), 509–516] for density estimation. Weak consistency is related to the support of a Gaussian process in the sup-norm topology which is explicitly identified for many covariance kernels. In fact we show that this support is the space of all continuous functions when the usual covariance kernels are chosen and an appropriate prior is used on the smoothing parameters of the covariance kernel. We then show that a large class of Gaussian process priors achieve weak as well as strong posterior consistency (under some regularity conditions) at true densities that are either continuous or piecewise continuous.     

Path(ological) Dependency? Core Competencies from an Organizational Perspective

The development of the 'resource-based theory of the firm' has helped to reorient the field of strategic management towards a focus on the organizational processes and structures which produce 'core competencies'. By challenging previous assumptions of market determinism this approach seems to open up the prospect of a greater dialogue with the theories and concerns of organization studies. This paper aims to determine the scope of such a dialogue by developing an appreciation and critique of the core competencies framework from an organizational perspective. In this context, the key feature of resource-based theories is seen to be their focus on organizational knowledge rather than decision-making processes as the engine of competitive performance. This focus has a powerful resonance with studies of knowledge in organizations, particularly those forms of knowledge which are linked to product and process design.
However, despite the important shift towards a knowledge-based view of competition, the core competencies approach fails to follow the logic of its own argument as far as the organizational appropriation of knowledge is concerned. In their pursuit of an ontological model of competitive performance –defining the essential causes of firm competitiveness – resource-based approaches neglect the socially embedded qualities of organizational knowledge. As a result, the social construction of knowledge, encompassing the dilemmas posed by the employment relationship and the pitfalls of institutionalization, is neglected. Instead, a smoothly linear model is developed linking skills, competence and competitiveness. This mechanistic view is further reinforced by reliance on a command and control model of the management process. Organizational knowledge is not a biddable resource at the disposal of top management.     

Exposure to occupational violence and the buffering effects of intra-oranizational support

This paper presents a conceptually distinct analysis of the data first reported by Leather et al. Specifically, it investigates the effects of exposure to a variety of forms of work-related violence upon work attitudes and general well-being within a sample of UK public house licensees—individuals who manage public houses and hold the licence permitting the sale of alcoholic drinks on the premises. In addition, it examines the role of social support in moderating such effects. Based upon a sample of 242 licensees, it reports a consistent interaction between exposure to such violence and the availability of perceived intra-organizational support in determining the size of any negative effects upon individual well-being, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. It is argued that exposure to all forms of work-related violence, including intimidation, verbal abuse and threat, should be seen as a potential stressor within the work environment, the negative effects of which are buffered by perceived support from within the organization, but not by that perceived to be available from informal sources such as family and friends.     

怎样評价一个专家系统

本文首先介绍了专家系统,然后着重介绍了国外评价专家系统的准则。它包括基本特性的估计、开发环境、学习和使用性、成本以及怎样得到支持等,最后将举例说明怎样用这些准则来评价一个实际的专家系统。     

企业伦理气候、组织承诺与组织公民行为的关系——以温州民营企业为例

企业社会责任等方面存在的问题是造成温州民营企业“民工荒”的重要原因。通过问卷调查,发现员工对企业伦理气候中的法规导向最为认可且看法比较一致,对组织承诺中的情感承诺最为认可且对道德承诺的看法相对一致,对组织公民行为中的组织公益最为认可且看法比较一致。员工对组织承诺、组织公民行为的主张是正向积极的,未发现企业伦理气候、组织承诺对组织公民行为有强烈的正向影响。提出温州民营企业摆脱困境的思路：重视企业伦理气候建设,形成正确的企业文化,增强员工的向心力;强化员工的组织承诺;鼓励员工的组织公民行为。