A Note on Interpersonal and Communication Skills for IS Professionals: Evidence of Positive Influence

A recent article by Byrd and Turner (2001) reported that interpersonal skills on the part of information systems personnel had a negative influence on the success of systems as measured by competitive advantage. Several reasons were forwarded to account for this unexpected result, including lack of richness in the measure of these skills, the use of strategic success measures, the true complexity of interpersonal relations within an organization, and the sample of CIOs who may have a bias in favor of technical skills. We address these concerns by incorporating a set of communication skills into the interpersonal skills set, sampling users for a different set of stakeholders, and employing a more complex model based on theories of expectation. The results indicate that the impacts of interpersonal skills on system success is not a simple function of the perceived level of the IS staff's skill proficiency but is also determined by the understood expectations of skill requirements.     

中非命运共同体视角下非洲大陆自由贸易区初期建设研究

非洲大陆自由贸易区是非洲国家寻求可持续发展、实现独立自主的有益尝试。作为目前全球规模最大的区域合作协定,自贸区协定自开始谈判到正式生效仅用时三年,快速启动但推进缓慢,建设初期即举步维艰。有别于现有研究从宏观上分析自贸区对中非合作的作用,文章着重剖析了自贸区建设初期阻碍各方达成共识的内外部深层次原因,重点识别了在推动区域内一体化进程中自贸区面临的挑战。考察分析了新时期我国应如何从自贸区建设的关键问题中发现机遇,共同推动自贸区与"一带一路"倡议深度对接,致力于参与中非人类命运共同体建设。研究发现,由于非洲各国领导人政治意愿不坚定、非洲各国经济结构性障碍以及长期存在庞大的建设资金缺口,自贸区在建设初期进程远远滞后于预期。停滞不前的自贸区建设进程暴露出非盟内部存在已久的难以调和的矛盾与撕裂。多年来,中非合作建立了牢固稳定的建设机制,取得了丰硕且具有互补性的经贸成果,世界格局大变革也为中国与非洲自贸区深入合作提供了新机遇。坚实的合作基础、百年未有之大变局成为了中国与自贸区合作的重要依据。新时期,中国取得了历史性成就,体现在对历史发展的主动性把握。非洲作为中国外交的重要支点,中国与自贸区的合作应立足中非合作的现实基础,抓住历史机遇,努力实现中非更高水平政治互信,引领中国与自贸区迈向务实合作。中国应主动参与自贸区的框架与机制构建,建立与自贸区的长效联络机制,持续关注和支持自贸区相关法规的制定和实施;同时采取多维度且灵活的关税制度,拓展合作的广度与深度,推动产业调整和升级;依托技术变革,以企业为抓手,拓展中非合作新领域;持续防范风险,借鉴经验,以基础设施建设为抓手,实现可持续发展。为非洲实现真正的独立自主、自立自强提供有力支撑,为非洲实现粮食安全、造血脱贫提供中国方案。最终实现非洲经济一体化和中非协同发展,服务于建设中非人类命运共同体。     

辽西地区新石器时代至青铜时代早期装饰品研究

辽西地区史前时期各遗址出土的遗物中有很大一部分为装饰品,作为史前社会生产发展的产物,反映了当时辽西地区先民的生活习俗以及审美意识。本文通过对辽西地区史前时期装饰品的梳理归纳,解读当时先民的精神生活。     

Risk,Ambiguity, and Decision Choice: Some Additional Evidence*

This paper extends prior research by jointly assessing the roles of risk attitude and tolerance for ambiguity in predicting choice. An experiment examined the effects of these variables on decisions made in four different scenarios. The four scenarios (treatment combinations) were generated by manipulating risk and ambiguity into two levels (high and low). The context was defined in terms of a sample size selection problem. The second issue explored was the effect of attitudes toward risk and ambiguity on decision confidence. The results indicate that (1) both risk attitude and ambiguity intolerance determined choice behavior, (2) the roles of these individual attitudes depend on the levels of the two treatment variables of risk and ambiguity, (3) the presence of ambiguity accentuates the perception of risk in individual subjects, and (4) decision makers who are less risk averse, and have more tolerance for ambiguity, display greater confidence in their choice. The paper discusses some of the managerial implications of the results.