The New American Social Work Gospel: Case Management of the Chronically Mentally III

Correspondence to Dr R. A. Cnaan, School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Summary Case management is currently the most popular mode of servicedelivery in the United States, especially in community programsfor chronically mentally ill people. Proponents of case managementclaim that it is cost-effective and that it assures provisionof necessary services to clients. In this paper I do not challengeits effectiveness but argue that case management neither empowersclients nor is it free of drawbacks. Given that many countriestend to model the United States, foreign social workers andother human service professionals should first examine the usefulnessof case management vis-à-vis their own cultural and economiccontexts, especially in the light of its many drawbacks.     

AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF THE UNDERLYING DIMENSIONS OF PURCHASING COMPETENCE

The importance of evaluating the effectiveness of the purchasing function in firms along multiple criteria has attracted considerable attention. However, few studies have identified the defining elements that constitute purchasing competence. This paper introduces the construct of purchasing competence using a second‐order factor structure derived from purchasing practices identified from the literature. The validity of the construct (purchasing competence) is tested using data from a sample of 179 firms. The results indicate (1) the construct validity of purchasing competence and (2) the predictive validity of purchasing competence, which has a significant positive influence on total quality management performance and customer satisfaction. The implications of these findings for additional research are discussed.     

IMPROVING JOB SHOP PERFORMANCE THROUGH PROCESS QUEUE MANAGEMENT UNDER TRANSFER BATCHING

This research investigated the value of protecting the continuity of release batchs in a transfer batching environment, by modifying the SPT rule. A simulation model of a job shop was used to test the modified SPT rule. The performance measures evaluated were mean flow time, flow time variance, and mean lateness. Conditions under which the SPT modification improved results were as follows: large number of transfer batches, small setup time to process time ratio, and large variation in process times from station to station. The results suggest that shop loading is not a significant factor affecting performance of the modified SPT rule.     

Ways of Forgetting: Israel and the Obliterated Memory of the Palestinian Nakba

This study analyses national ways of forgetting. Following the eminent British Anthropologists Mary Douglas, I relate here to "forgetting" as "selective remembering, misremembering and disremembering" ( Douglas 2007 : 13). The case study offered here is that of the Israeli-Jewish forgetting of the uprooting of the Palestinians in the war of 1948. This paper discusses three facets of the collective forgetting: In the first subchapter I analyze the foundations of the Israeli regime of forgetting and discern three mechanisms of removing from memory of selected events: narrative forgetting: the formation and dissemination of an historical narrative; physical forgetting: the destruction of physical remains; and symbolic forgetting: the creation of a new symbolic geography of new places and street names. In the second subchapter , I look at the tenacious ambiguity that lies in the regime of forgetting, as it does not completely erase all the traces of the past. And finally, in the third subchapter , I discuss the growth of subversive memory and counter-memory that at least indicates the option of a future revision of the Israeli regime of forgetting.     

The Colonization Perspective in Israeli Sociology: Internal and External Comparisons

Abstract Though the characterization of Zionism as a colonial project is probably as old as the Zionist movement, as a specific scholarly sociological perspective in Israeli academia it was formulated only lately, in the wake of the Six Day War of 1967 This article outlines the contours of this new perspective, its theoretical assumptions and its political implications. It examines the historical circumstances which propelled its emergence, and than discerns two distinct sub-trends in it: Weberian and Marxist Throughout are explored three distinct comparative issues: a comparison of the colonization perspective to other perspectives in Israeli sociology especially the 'dualist perspective': a comparison of the case of Israel with other colonization cases. such as the U.S.A.: and a comparison of the two sub-trends in the perspective itself to each other.     

STRATEGIC ASPECTS OF QUALITY: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

This paper investigates the relationship between aspects of quality and long run profitability and growth of a firm. The paper first determines whether a stable relationship among price, aspects of quality, and the sales rate exists, by examining the equilibrium properties of a dynamic model. Then, we use the derived equilibrium expressions to develop insights into the strategic nature of “quality reputation” and, how to integrate marketing (i.e., pricing) and quality related decisions. The paper shows under certain conditions it might be more advantageous to manipulate “quality reputation” through advertising and product innovations than to increase product quality. We comment on quality based strategic options a firm must consider to ensure long run growth and profitability.