Corporate Governance and Democracy: The Stakeholder Debate Revisited

'Stakeholding' is a term laden with manymeanings. In this paper we attempt to put someorder on the discourse by confining attentionto the corporation. We assess the originsand the intellectual foundations of the 'shareholder versus stakeholder' debate. We askwhether and how 'stakeholding' might be a morelogical or rational system, a fairer or moredemocratic system, and one that provides betterperformative outcomes. Each of these claims isassessed in respect to the micro firmperspective and the macro economy-wideperspective.One of the most difficult and neglected areasin the stakeholding debate concerns thepracticalities of its implementation. The papertackles this issue directly, at both thedomestic and the international level. We asknot only how stakeholding might be sensiblyintroduces within a national context but alsowhat it means to discuss stakeholding inrespect to transnational enterprises.     

Chain reaction: an exploratory study of nursing home bankruptcy in California

This paper reports on an exploratory study of nursing home bankruptcy. From state and industry data regarding nearly 1,000 California facilities, it was possible to identify 155 homes in five chains (multi-facility organizations) that were operating in bankruptcy in 2000. When compared with facilities in non-bankrupt chains, while the bankrupt chain facilities had significantly worse financial liquidity, higher administrative costs, and higher payables to related parties, they also had more Medicare residents, fewer Medicaid residents, better solvency, and were located in less competitive county markets and in areas with higher Medicaid reimbursement rates. These findings indicate that, rather than facility characteristics and local market factors, strategic decisions taken at the corporate (chain) level are the major determinants of nursing facility bankruptcy status.     

Screening children with a history of maltreatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in frontline social care organizations: A process evaluation

The use of standardized screening tools to identify trauma exposure and associated symptoms is commonly recommended as a key component in the development of trauma informed services and is seen as integral to facilitating access to evidence-based therapies. However, there is limited evidence in the UK about the factors influencing the adoption of such tools into routine practice in children's social care. This paper presents the findings from a process evaluation of how practitioners implemented a screening tool for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression into their day-to-say practice and what worked or did not work during the process. The findings from this study highlight the potential benefits for both young people and practitioners, alongside some of the challenges involved. In particular, practitioners need to see the direct benefit for young people of being assessed. Additionally, practitioners value regular mentoring as they become more proficient in using standardized screening tools.     

Conversion Ratios, Efficiency and Obfuscation: A Study of the Impact of Changed UK Charity Accounting Requirements on External Stakeholders

Key stakeholders in the UK charity sector have, in recent years, advocated greater accountability for charity performance. Part of that debate has focussed on the use of conversion ratios as indicators of efficiency, with importance to stakeholders being contrasted with charities’ apparent reluctance to report such measures. Whilst, before 2005, conversion ratios could have been computed from financial statements, changes in the UK charity SORP have radically altered the ability of users to do this. This article explores the impact on the visibility of such information through an analysis of the financial statements of large UK charities before and after the 2005 changes. Overall, the findings suggest that, despite the stated intention of increasing transparency in respect of charity costs, the application of the changes has resulted in charities ‘managing’ the numbers and limiting their disclosures, possibly to the detriment of external stakeholders.     

Addressing self-selection effects in evaluations of mutual help groups and professional mental health services: An introduction to two-stage sample selection models

Because random assignment to conditions is often neither possible nor desirable in longitudinal evaluations of mutual help organizations, the influence of self-selection effects must be assessed in order to accurately interpret outcome data. One approach to adjusting for self-selection effects is to control for covariates that predict outcome using statistical procedures such as analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), partial correlations, and hierarchical regression. This approach has considerable power, but is less useful when an evaluator is interested in directly modeling the process of entry into a program and incorporating information on the factors affecting self-selection into estimation of program effects. Two-stage sample selection models are designed to address such situations. These models rely on regression procedures in which program participation is modeled in an initial equation, which yields a sample selection correction factor. The correction factor is included with participation in a second equation that predicts outcome. This two-stage procedure allows the evaluator to interpret the observed effects of a professional service or a self-help group in the context of the magnitude and direction of selection effects. We compare and contrast the covariate control and sample selection models in a longitudinal study of the effects of participation in Alcoholics Anonymous on drinking behavior.     

Change in VA Community Living Centers 2004–2011: Shifting Long-Term Care to the Community

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is facing pressures to rebalance its long-term care system. Using VA administrative data from 2004–2011, we describe changes in the VA’s nursing homes (called Community Living Centers [CLCs]) following enactment of directives intended to shift CLCs’ focus from providing long-term custodial care to short-term rehabilitative and post-acute care, with safe and timely discharge to the community. However, a concurrent VA hospice and palliative care expansion resulted in an increase in hospice stays, the most notable change in type of stay during this time period. Nevertheless, outcomes for Veterans with non-hospice short and long stays, such as successful discharge to the community, improved. We discuss the implications of our results for simultaneous implementation of two initiatives in VA CLCs.     

Setting corporate objectives using market required earnings

This paper examines and illustrates a new approach to corporate planning. The authors provide a framework which can overcome some of the more pernicious effects of long term corporate planning such as the gearing of the more fundamental commercial goals. The authors produce a rigorous framework as to the criteria upon which a corporate strategy should be based and then tested their model against the corporate planning activities of several large companies whose profitability rates were relatively high. Finally, the paper analyses the optimal method of utilizing the proposed model.     

Taking Tough Choices Seriously: Public Administration and Individual Moral Agency

Using the concepts of thick and thin relationships as the basisfor ethical behavior, this paper critiques the emphasis on discretionin the mainstream administrative ethics literature and arguesthat moral and other dilemmas facing public administrators providea more useful frame. Two examples drawn from the UK Hutton Investigationinto the death of David Kelly are used to demonstrate the relevanceand usefulness of this approach.