Gaining by giving? Peer research into service user and carer perceptions of inclusivity in Higher Education

Abstract

Service users and carers (SUAC) have made significant contributions to professional training in social work courses in Higher Education (HE) over the past decade in the UK. Such participation has been championed by government, academics and SUAC groups from a range of theoretical and political perspectives. Most research into the effectiveness of SUAC involvement at HE has come from the perspectives of academics and very little SUAC-led research exists. This qualitative peer research was led by two members of the University of Worcester’s SUAC group. Findings were that SUAC perceived their involvement brought benefits to students, staff, the University and the local community. Significant personal benefits such as finding a new support network, increased self-development and greater confidence to manage their own care were identified in ways that suggested that the benefits that can flow from SUAC involvement at HE are perhaps more far-reaching than previously recognised. Barriers to inclusion were less than previously reported in the literature and the humanising effects of SUAC involvement are presented as a partial antidote to an increasingly marketised HE culture.     

西方跨国公司跨文化服务营销的经验及其借鉴

在竞争激烈的现代市场中,服务逐渐成为最能创造价值的营销利器,日益成为市场营销的核心。本文通过介绍一些西方跨国公司跨文化服务营销的成功案例,分析其在营销过程中所运用的策略,总结出其取得成功的经验,同时提出我国跨国公司在跨文化服务营销过程中应借鉴西方的成功经验,与企业自身特点相结合,制定适合自己的跨文化服务营销策略。     

Marketing Communication Intensity Across Industries

Marketing communication intensity (i.e., the ratio of advertising and promotional expenditures to sales) has been an important topic for both business managers and academics. Here, we investigate cross-sectional and time-series variation of communication intensity due to: type of offering (product versus service) and type of market (consumer versus industrial). Overall, we find that both of these factors affect variation of communication intensity across industries and over time. However, the effect of market type is much more dramatic than the effect of offering type. Such knowledge about patterns in communication intensity levels helps managers make decisions about how much to spend on advertising and promotion.     

A Stochastic Goal Program for Employee Scheduling*

Deterministic goal programs for employee scheduling decisions attempt to minimize expected operating costs by assigning the ideal number of employees to each feasible schedule. For each period in the planning horizon, managers must first determine the amount of labor that should be scheduled for duty. These requirements are often established with marginal analysis techniques, which use estimates for incremental labor costs and shortage expenses. Typically, each period in the planning horizon is evaluated as an independent epoch. An implicit assumption is that individual employees can be assigned to schedules with as little as a single period of work. If this assumption violates local work rules, the labor requirements parameters for the deterministic goal program may be suboptimal. As we show in this research, this well-known limitation can lead to costly staffing and scheduling errors. We propose an employee scheduling model that overcomes this limitation by integrating the labor requirements and scheduling decisions. Instead of a single, externally determined staffing goal for each period, the model uses a probability distribution for the quantity of labor required. The model is free to choose an appropriate staffing level for each period, eliminating the need for a separate goal-setting procedure. In most cases this results in better, less costly decisions. In addition, the proposed model easily accommodates both linear and nonlinear under- and overstaffing penalties. We use simple examples to demonstrate many of these advantages and to illustrate the key techniques necessary to implement our model. We also assess its performance in a study of more than 1,700 simulated stochastic employee scheduling problems.     

Life Satisfaction of Rural Migrant Workers in Urban China: The Roles of Community Service Participation and Identity Integration

Abstract

China is home to approximately 245 million rural-to-urban migrant workers. The influx of migrants into urban areas has posed various challenges for local social service systems. Recently, increasing number of community services have been developed to meet the growing service demands from the migrant population. However, whether increase in community service use results in improved wellbeing among migrant workers remains critically unexplored. As such, this study examines the role of community service use in migrant workers’ life satisfaction and the potential mediating effect of identity integration in Shenzhen, China. Bootstrapped models were adopted to examine relationship among variables. Drawing from a sample of 1,087 rural-to-urban migrant workers, we found that community service use is positively correlated with both identity integration and migrant workers’ life satisfaction. Moreover, identity integration served as a partial mediator between community service use and life satisfaction. The mediating effect of identity integration was found to increase with age. This study highlights that diverse services should be implemented to address divergent needs of migrants in different age groups. Community service can also serve as a vehicle to foster integration among migrant workers in host communities, especially for older age groups. Future studies may further investigate the relationships between community social capital, community social support, quality of community-based organization and frequency of service use so as to optimize the life satisfaction of migrant workers.     

从“四化同步”到“六化协调”:县域产业升级发展新思路

随着“绿色化”理念的不断深入人心以及在中国经济发展过程中经济服务化在我国GDP产值中所占比值越来越大,把“四化同步”适时调整为“六化协调”已是大势所趋。“六化协调”发展与县域产业升级的密切关系为河北省县域产业升级振兴带来新思路,如何做?首先要找差距,抓重点,提升县域“六化协调”整体发展水平;其次要加强“六化”各系统之间互动,提升县域“六化”各系统发展水平;最后要制定区域化的“六化”发展战略,优化河北省“六化”协调发展的空间格局。     

The servant leadership advantage: When perceiving low differentiation in leader-member relationship quality influences team cohesion,team task performance and service OCB

How does servant leaders' unique ability to place each follower's needs above their own influence relationships between followers and impact their collective performance? In a study that integrates principles of servant leadership with the social comparison theoretical framework, we tested a group-level model to examine how servant leadership induces low perceived differentiation in leader-member relationship quality (perceived LMX differentiation) within a group, which strengthens team cohesion and in turn positively influences team task performance and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (service OCB). Our sample comprised 229 employees nested in 67 work teams. Structural equation modeling results indicate that servant leadership significantly predicts low perceived LMX differentiation; perceived LMX differentiation is strongly related to team cohesion such that the lower the perceived differentiation, the stronger the team's cohesiveness. And, team cohesion is also strongly related to both the team's task performance and service OCB. Perceived LMX differentiation and team cohesion mediate the effect of servant leadership on both team task performance and service OCB.     

两岸大学生志愿服务动机与激励机制比较研究

20世纪70年代以来,志愿者组织在全球范围兴起并得到发展,逐渐成为现代社会发展的一支活跃力量,在全球掀起了开展志愿服务的热潮。大学生志愿者作为我国志愿服务的重要参与主体,在志愿服务中起到了举足轻重的作用。在两岸和平发展新时期,两岸出现了大交流、大合作、大发展的新局面。作为志愿服务的主力军,两岸大学生志愿服务动机和激励机制的比较,有利于促进两岸大学生志愿服务合作机制的建立。     

上海服务业综合改革试点的成效及亟待突破的困境

上海首批服务业综合改革试点工作取得了显著成效,但也面临着困境。为了加快构筑以服务经济为主的产业结构、加快完善与国际接轨的服务经济制度,上海亟需在首批服务业综合改革试点工作的基础上,开展新一轮的服务业综合改革试点,实现"以点上的探索突破,带动面上的创新发展"。同时,为了深入推进服务业综合改革试点,上海需强化服务业综合改革试点工作的总体指导;建立全市层面的服务业综合改革的评价考核机制;完善服务业综合改革试点单位的申报和淘汰机制;对服务业综合改革试点单位给予权限下放或政策倾斜;总结服务业综合改革试点的创新经验,开展第二批试点工作。     

服务企业绩效差异源泉的理论与实证分析

"服务企业绩效差异的主要源泉是来自行业效应还是企业效应?",通过对2002-2009年中国服务业上市公司的研究,利用方差分析法衡量了行业、企业、年份的主效应以及年份与行业的交互效应对服务企业绩效差异的影响程度。结果显示:(1)服务业有较强的成长能力,可能会有一轮新的资本规模扩张形势;(2)企业效应对服务业上市公司盈利能力起着决定性影响,服务企业要获得可持续超常盈利能力的根本途径,是运用其独特的、无法被模仿的资源来创造可持续的竞争优势,而非多元化进入更有获利能力的产业,更不可能依赖于宏观经济环境的变动;(3)与盈利能力不同,年份效应对服务业上市公司成长能力的影响仅次于企业效应,这种差异性深刻地揭示出投资者的非理性和资本市场亟待完善。