Ownership Strategy and Foreign Affiliate Performance in Multinational Family Business Groups: A Double-edged Sword

We argue that ownership strategies can be a double edged sword for multinational family business groups from emerging economies and the performance of their affiliates located abroad. We test an integrated framework based on internalization and agency theory on a longitudinal dataset of multinational family business groups from Taiwan. We find evidence for the contingent impact of cultural differences and family management on the association between ownership strategy and affiliate performance. While direct ownership is seen as offering more control over the affiliate, we show that this comes at a performance cost for affiliates in culturally different host countries and affiliates under family management. Indirect ownership seems to be one way to positively influence affiliate performance in culturally distant countries, but seems not to be contingent on family management utilization.     

美国多元文化政策评析

20世纪60年代以来美国政府实施多元文化政策,在教育、就业等方面改善少数族裔等弱势群体的生存状况。美国多元文化政策成效显著,促进了美国社会的种族平等与民主。但由于历史与政策本身的原因,多元文化政策也引起了巨大争议。     

Nonlinear models of distribution of talking in small groups

This paper develops a mathematical model of the distribution over time of talking in discussion groups. Researchers of small group processes and social inequality have long recognized that interaction in small discussion groups is usually not equally distributed and that being a person who talks more than others is associated with having higher status outside the group and greater prestige and influence within the group. There is also a history of mathematical approaches to describing this phenomenon. As an addition to this literature, here a nonlinear dynamical system model is presented and used to develop computer simulations that are compared with data from a laboratory study of real four-person discussion groups. The model is based on theoretical assumptions about group processes including individual differences in volubility, status generalization, deference hierarchies and norms of taking turns and of fairness. While none of these alone make predictions that match the data, when they are all combined simulations are produced that closely match the data in both changes over time and differentiation among members. The dynamical system using the parameters as estimated for these data reaches a fixed point, which may help understand how groups structures become stable under some conditions but not others.     

Adapting the Friends of the Children programme for child welfare system‐involved families

Research has shown the importance of long‐term, caring adults for children in foster care. This paper reviews the Friends of the Children (FOTC) long‐term mentoring programme and how it was adapted to serve children and families with child welfare system involvement. This study's two research questions are (1) How do Friends (FOTC's paid professional mentors) currently work with, and in turn, have an impact on, child welfare‐involved families? and (2) How can Friends better support child welfare system‐involved caregivers and families to promote family stability, permanence, and child well‐being? Data were collected from 21 caregivers (foster and biological), 24 FOTC Friends, five child welfare workers, and five teachers. Qualitative analyses of focus group, interview, and open‐ended survey data revealed a wide variety of ways Friends currently support children and families. In addition, several recommendations were made for strengthening programming. These findings provide valuable insights into providing long‐term mentoring to child welfare system‐involved children and families.     

Reflections on engaging with an advisory network in the context of a ‘sensitive’ research study

This article surfaces issues about the often-used but widely under-reported practice of working with advisory fora. We critically reflect on our experiences working with an advisory network when co-designing a research study about a ‘sensitive’ subject. We discuss the following: 1) How the network evolved as a matter of ethical and pragmatic choices; 2) Potential issues when discussing sensitive issues ‘outside’ of the participatory or participant context; and 3) Practical and epistemic issues involved in (not) ‘taking’ advice. We suggest that although sensitive research is more conventionally aligned with more ‘radical’ forms of participatory practice, advisory networks can present a useful and sometimes more appropriate form of inclusion and engagement for some advisors and for some types of research study. The article should, therefore, be of interest to a wide range of academic and practice-based health and social care staff and, in particular, those who plan to use advisory fora in their work.     

政治人类学视野下的当代台湾语言生态——基于“族群政治”分析视角

国民党独尊国语的极端政策到上世纪80年代中叶解严后有所缓和,由台湾"族群政治"矛盾引发的族群冲突开始不断对台湾语言生态形成强大渗透,进而深刻影响台湾当今社会的语言状况.语言冲突在当前的台湾尤为突出,而这主要源于语言、政治与族群认同之间的复杂关系.语言的生态呈现的是人与文化、外部社会环境互动的结果.语言不仅是表达工具,也是一种意识形态,从政治人类学角度切入,对台湾语言现象的研究会获得深入的认识.     

Minority sub-state institutional completeness

The institutional completeness model holds that minority groups best ensure their vitality through their own institutions. In this case study of Acadians in Greater Moncton, we explore the difference between institutions belonging to minority groups (e.g. churches, cultural associations) and those belonging to the state (e.g. schools, hospitals). Our focus on local sub-state institutions – institutions established and funded by the state but managed by citizens at the local level (e.g. school boards, health authorities, municipal councils) – shows that sub-state institutions have become more important than civil institutions in ensuring minority vitality. It also shows that while all sub-state institutions can contribute to minority vitality, some state functions and the sub-state institutions that wield these functions can contribute more than others. The model should be revised to give as much importance to sub-state institutions as civil institutions in its attempt to describe, explain, and predict conflicts between minority and majority groups.     

“蚁族”毕业生群体对高校稳定的影响与对策

高校稳定与否历来是社会状态的“晴雨表”和“风向标”。随着我国社会城市化、人口结构转变、劳动力市场转型、高等教育体制改革等一系列社会因素的变化,高校毕业生就业形势不容乐观,尤其是“蚁族”毕业生群体问题日益凸显且备受关注,现已演变成为高校稳定所面临的一个重要而又迫切的现实问题。该文在对“蚁族”毕业生群体生存现状实地调研的基础上,进一步探讨该群体对高校稳定的深层次影响,从政府、高校和学生三个层面探索解决问题的主要对策。     

The social capital of obese persons: implication for self-help/mutual aid groups and social work practice

This study investigates the amount of social capital possessed by obese persons. This is an interesting issue for social work because the relational attitude of users and their social capital are crucial for the efficacy and sustainability of helping actions. The study found that the social capital of a sample of obese persons undergoing obesity treatment in an Italian hospital ward did not differ from that of the general Italian population and no association between the BMI of the obese patients and the characteristics of their social capital was found. Overall the social capital of the obese patients was similar to that of the general population. This can be considered a useful prerequisite for the launching of recovery projects based on the involvement and reinforcement of interpersonal relations, using the social capital of the obese people to communicate and support a course of treatment structured according to the methodology of relational social work, particularly through self-help/mutual aid groups.