Major, Blair and the Third Way in Social Policy

Tony Blair's adoption of the catchphrase ‘the Third Way’ to précis New Labour's policy orientation allowed him to distance ‘New’ Labour from ‘Old’ Labour and to appropriate many of John Major's modifications to Thatcherism, albeit framed within a new political language. This article sets out the basic similarities and differences between the social policies of the Major and Blair governments, arguing that, although the policies have been presented within different discourses, there has been a marked similarity in policy content, with Major espousing Third Way policies if not Third Way rhetoric. Indeed, towards the end of his second term of office, Blair started to go beyond the Third Way and towards Margaret Thatcher's favoured model of spirited competition between public and private suppliers.     

陆象山"荆门之政"及其反思

从南宋心学大师陆象山的"荆门之政",可以引申出如下对现代政治有益的经验教训:(1)象山先生承儒家德治观念,以心学为基础,建构起自己的政治学说。(2)"荆门之政"是象山先生在一年零四个月中创造的政治奇迹。(3)反思象山的"荆门之政",可以获得三个方面的启迪:第一,"荆门之政"实为象山理家治族经验的延伸;第二,现代社会要根除政治生活中的人治现象,不在抛弃儒家的德治观念,相反,倒是应该正确地理解儒家的政治学说;第三,从政者应该具备哲学的思维、哲学的方法、哲学的境界,以哲人的身份从事政治的活动。     

纵向式职业生涯发展与发展性胜任力--基于企业人力资源管理人员的实证研究

麦克利兰提出了"胜任力"的概念,斯宾塞等人将胜任力划分为基准性胜任力与鉴别性胜任力.本文在此基础上,提出新概念-发展性胜任力,并以企业人力资源管理人员为例,通过电话访谈和问卷调查的方式,揭示了决定其纵向式职业生涯发展的发展性胜任力.     

论《唐宋诗醇》的编选宗旨与诗学思想

《唐宋诗醇》是清代乾隆前期题署御选的大型唐宋诗选,它的编选宗旨以尊唐、尊杜为主要特点,它特别强调诗歌的政治教化功能,对涉及民族斗争的内容则相当敏感。它在艺术上的主要特点是选目相当精审,选目及部分评语体现出较有价值的诗学观点。     

Supplier‐Switching Inertia and Competitive Asymmetry: A Demand‐Side Perspective*

Building on strategic management, operations strategy, and supplier management literatures, this article presents a framework for supplier selection from the demand‐side perspective. We highlight the role of a purchasing firm's switching inertia in the supplier‐selection process and demonstrate the usefulness of our framework for the industrial automation industry. Empirical data for this study was collected from 171 corporate and plant‐level executives in pharmaceutical, chemical, and paper‐and‐pulp manufacturing industries in the United States. A series of Web‐based individually customized discrete choice experiments asked the respondents to either switch to the new supplier or stay with the existing supplier. Based on the results of these experiments, we demonstrate the existence of switching inertia in the supplier‐selection process and discuss the managerial implications for incumbent and challenger supplier firms.     

推进避孕节育知情选择的探索与认识

作为联合国人口基金生殖健康 /计划生育项目试点县 ,英山县在推行避孕节育知情选择工作中做了一些有益的探索。通过对实践的总结、分析、思考 ,认识到 :推进避孕节育知情选择 ,需要对该项工作有全面、正确的理解 ;对工作中的风险应有准确的认识和防范能力 ,该项工作的深入开展还须与目标考核改革相配套     

Choosing hunger

In much of the academic literature, hunger is treated as a problematic condition that affects people against their will. However, this focus ignores the many instances in which people actively choose to go hungry. The clearest examples are cases – such as dieters, hunger artists, and religious fasters – in which the choice seems voluntary. Yet people forced into famine or starved in concentration camps also make critical, though often subtle trade-offs related to hunger. This paper explores two fundamental characteristics that help to clarify the differences between various cases of hunger: the degree of choice and the severity of the consequences. By emphasizing the centrality of choice and providing a framework for the analysis of various situations, the paper argues for a re-examination of the concept of hunger.     

Understanding top managers’ careers: How does career variety impact tenure on the board?

Career variety has recently received attention in management literature in general, and top management literature in particular. While existing publications have predominantly linked career variety to individual adaptability, agility or competences, this paper focuses on the relationship between top managers’ career variety and their tenure on the board. We rely on the boundaryless career approach and argue that there is a negative relationship between career variety and board tenure. Drawing on a sample of executive directors in UK FT 100 firms, we provide empirical evidence that increased career variety leads to shorter tenure on the board. We also reveal that this relationship is further strengthened with international educational experience. In addition, we show that in-house work experience mitigates the negative association between career variety and board tenure. We contribute to the literature on top managers’ careers by unravelling the consequences that career variety during early and mid-stages of a career has on tenure on the board – and hence on career stability in later stages of a career.     

Who’s adopting the smarter lunchroom approach? Individual characteristics of innovative food service directors

School cafeterias and, subsequently, food service directors (FSDs) play a vital role in feeding children in the U.S. This study investigates which FSDs with different characteristics and organizational affiliations are most willing to embrace and implement new programs in their cafeterias.In 2014 we surveyed a representative sample of 8143 school FSDs across the U.S. regarding their knowledge and use of innovative methods that encourage children to select healthy food options. Nearly all of the surveyed FSDs (93%) are aware of behavioral strategies to promote healthier eating in school lunchrooms, and nearly 93% report having made at least one change in their lunchroom. Male FSDs are more likely to be aware of new programs, though they are less likely to adopt them relative to female FSDs. In addition, membership in a professional organization increases awareness as well as the number of changes made by 0.14 (p < 0.01). Finally, 22% of all respondents say they know about the Smarter Lunchrooms approach, a set of research-based lunchroom behavioral strategies that positively influence children to select healthy foods.The findings highlight the importance of participation in professional associations which provide career-building activities for school FSDs increasing awareness and adoption of innovative approaches to motivate children to eat the nutritious foods. Given these findings, there is reason for policy makers and school districts to consider allocating funds to encourage FSDs to engage more fully in professional association meetings and activities.     

‘Stories of distress versus fulfilment’: A narrative inquiry of midwives’ experiences supporting alternative birth choices in the UK National Health Service

BackgroundSome childbearing women/birthing people prioritize out of maternity care organizational guidelines’ approaches to childbirth as a way of optimizing their chances of a normal physiological birth. Currently, there is little known about the experiences of midwives who support their choices.AimTo explore the experiences of UK midwives employed by the NHS, who self-defined as supportive of women’s alternative physiological birthing choices.MethodsA narrative inquiry was used to collect and analyse professional stories of practice via self-written narratives and interviews. Forty-five midwives from across the UK were recruited.FindingsThree overarching storylines were developed with nine sub-themes. ‘Stories of distress’ highlights challenging experiences due to poor supportive working environments, ranging from small persistent challenges to extreme situations. Conversely, ‘Stories of fulfilment’ offers a positive counter-narrative where midwives worked in supportive working environments enabling woman-centred care unencumbered by organisational constraints. ‘Stories of transition’ abridge these two polarized themes.ConclusionThe midwives’ experiences were mediated by their socio-cultural working contexts. Negative experiences were characterised by a misalignment between the midwives’ philosophy and organisational cultures, with significant consequences for the midwives. Conversely, examples of good organisational culture and practice reveal that it is possible for organisations to fulfil their obligations for safe and positive maternity care for both childbearing women who make alternative birthing choices, and for attending staff. This highlights what is feasible and achievable within maternity organisations and offers transferable insights for organisational support of out-of-guideline care that can be adapted across the UK and beyond.