Union organizing effort and success in the U.S., 1948–2004

While union density in the public sector has increased in recent decades, private sector union density in the U.S. has declined steadily since the mid-1950s. Scholars have evoked a variety of explanations to account for the decline in union membership, but substantially less attention has been devoted to understanding the contribution of the union organizing process as governed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In this paper, we focus on two aspects of this process: union organizing effort (the effort to establish union representation elections to organize non-unionized workers) and union organizing success (success in winning union representation elections). Using annual time series data for the U.S. from 1948 to 2004, we show that there has been a long-term decline in both union organizing effort and union organizing success, which likely contributes to declining union density. We focus on three explanations for these changes: the political–legal environment for unions, deindustrialization and globalization, and employer opposition to unionization efforts. We find that each of these factors contributes to organizing effort and success and conclude with a discussion of the implications of this research for future mobilization efforts.     

Explaining with Intentional Omissions

Determining the human activity that social processes consist in is a central task for the philosophy of the social sciences. This paper asks: which conception of agency arising from contemporary action theory is the most suitable for social science explanation? It is argued that a movement-centered, Davidsonian picture of agency is not suitable for explaining certain social processes such as strikes and boycotts because, instead of intentional bodily movements, they are explained by the intentional omissions of agents. I propose that instead of intentional bodily movements, social processes are better explained by phenomena in which an agent is taking an active relation both to her mental or bodily processes as well as to what is happening around her. Thus, to fully explain social processes, a comprehensive theory of agency that can account for intentional actions and intentional omissions and a conception of agency that includes both materialist and volitionalist aspects is needed.     

Behavioral Determinants of Nonprofit Board Performance

There is an increased awareness that the performance of boards (good governance) is not only determined by structural determinants but by behavioral determinants as well. These behavioral determinants might be particularly important for public and nonprofit governance, where the role of the board is more diffuse and heterogeneous than in corporate governance. Here we investigate how social dynamics within boards in secondary education influence their performance. We follow a concise model that includes cognitive conflict, the use of expertise, effort norms, and social cohesion as determinants of board task performance. A survey among all secondary schools in the Netherlands serves as the empirical underpinning for this process‐oriented model of good governance. We show that the behavioral determinants have different effects on the control task and advice task of boards. Also, we find that cognitive conflicts in supervisory boards do not lead to less but rather to more social cohesion within boards. Building on these findings, we suggest a revised model of the behavioral determinants of nonprofit board performance.     

Organizational Sustainability and Systemic Boundary Processes

Abstract

Every day, managers work to sustain the organizations wherein they work. In this article, the authors examine certain systemic boundary processes that are intrinsic to organizations and their sustainability. For readers of this journal, whose name points to the inherent connection between organizations and society, the authors present an argument that organizational boundary processes and their influence on organizational sustainability are important considerations for those of us interested in a viable future for our society. The importance of these processes for managers also is indicated.     

19世纪末日本的中国认识探析——以《世界之日本》杂志为中心

       摘要：  1894年至1895年的中日甲午战争,是中日两国近代史上重要的转折点,也使整个东亚格局产生了巨大变化。面对帝国主义列强在中国掀起的瓜分高潮,日本统治阶层内部出现了“支那保全论”、“支那瓜分论”两种对华政策。虽然两种政策在主张攫取最大在华利益上并不存在本质的区别,但是两种对华政策的形成是基于日本统治阶层内部对甲午战后国际形势及中国形势的不同认识。“保全论”和“瓜分论”之外,所谓第三种对华政策“日清同盟论”也曾昙花一现,成为当时日本朝野议论的焦点。与此同时,对于陷入严重民族危机和社会危机的中国,日本言论界和政界从“社会凝聚力”的角度,指出了中国衰弱的原因所在。特别是政界重镇伊藤博文为代表的日本统治阶层对中国社会的分析和认识,反过来又深刻影响了日本国内政局的发展与变化。

      

对上市公司实施独立董事制度的反思

在上市公司中引入独立董事制度,完善公司治理结构,是目前公司法研讨的热点问题。证监会在法律上 已强制在上市公司中实行独立董事制度,但独立董事制度在上市公司的实行却存在着种种困难。     

新时期中国农民工融入城市的推拉力分析

文章详细阐述了当前我国农民工在融入城市的过程中,城市与农村对农民工的推、拉力作用。分析认为,随着我国经济的发展变革,城市与农村对农民工进城的拉力和推力也正在发生变革,呈现出更为复杂的情况。总体上,城市对农民工的拉力和农村对农民工的推力仍起主要作用,促进了农民工的城市融入。     

为人与人为：编辑工作以人为本的二重维度

编辑工作要实现“以人为本”必需在二重维度上把握并落实：一是为人性,即作为文化传播的责任承担者,既要为信息受众提供与时俱进的精神食粮,也要为信息作者创造可持续发展空间;二是人为性,即本身作为文化性存在,既要合理处理各种信息,也要创造性地参与到人类文化精神缔构中去。     

儿童识别和修复交际失败的实验研究

运用关联理论、会话含义理论,从微观角度分析汉语儿童在理解话语时可能出现的交际失败。采用Baosco等人提出的分类方法,通过实验方式对40个就读于小学一年级的中国儿童识别和修复交际失败的情况进行分析,以期探讨中国儿童识别和修复不同类型交际失败时在难度方面的差异性。     

Best linear predictors for factor scores

From the literature three types of predictors for factor scores are available. These are characterized by the constraints: linear, linear conditionally unbiased, and linear correlation preserving. Each of these constraints generates a class of predictors. Best predictors are defined in terms of Lowner's partial matrix order applied to matrices of mean square error of prediction. It is shown that within the first two classes a best predictor exists and that it does not exist in the third.