On the run length of a Shewhart chart for correlated data

We consider an extension of the classical Shewhart control chart to correlated data which was introduced by Vasilopoulos/Stamboulis (1978). Inequalities for the moments of the run length are given under weak conditions. It is proved analytically that the average run length (ARL) in the in-control state of the correlated process is larger than that in the case of independent variables. The exact ARL is calculated for exchangeable normal variables and autoregressive processes (AR). Moreover, we compare this chart with residual charts. Especially, in the case of an AR(1)—process with positive coefficient, it turns out that the out-of-control ARL of the modified Shewhart chart is smaller than that of the Shewhart chart for the residuals.     

Formalization of grievance procedures: A multi-firm and industry study

This study examines how two aspects of formalization of grievance procedures affect grievance procedure effectiveness: written versus oral presentation of grievance and the level of union and management authorized to resolve grievances at the first step. Several demographic variables were controlled for: size of bargaining unit, percentage of organization represented, number of grievances filed, and industry. A sample of 46 firms, representing a broad cross-section of unionized companies in the private sector, was obtained with the help of the American Arbitration Association. Results indicate that more formal grievance procedures (e.g., written presentation) are positively related to resolution rates at the first step. The number of grievances field and the size of the bargaining unit were positively related to total resolution rates prior to arbitration. We thank the American Arbitration Association for making this study possible.     

Racial classification in criminology: The reproduction of racialized crime

The (re)production of knowledge about crime is cultural in terms of the questions asked, the comparisons made, and the hypotheses selected to explain crime causation. Since criminologists do not operate in a vacuum, any prejudgments, biases, and beliefs acquired before their professional socialization may well persist and affect their approach to research over the course of their academic careers. Because American criminologists live in a society that racializes a number of problem behaviors, including crime, it is conceivable that widely held beliefs about race that predate graduate training will find their way into assumptions about the relationship between race and crime. Such preprofessional beliefs are transformed into facts when they meet with widespread agreement from other criminologists and thus come to be taken for granted in the objective pursuit of knowledge. Crime is racialized, for example, when the criminal behaviors of individual black offenders are understood in terms of racial traits, racial motives, or racial experiences. When traits, motives, or experiences are classified as the property of whole races or racial communities, these conceptions of race assume causal significance in explaining criminal behavior. Because these traits, motives, and experiences are supposedly shared by entire races or race-class categories, the predisposition to criminality becomes generalized beyond individual Black criminals to whole races or racial communities of noncriminal Blacks. When crime is thus racialized, whole communities or whole categories of phenotypically similar individuals are rendered precriminal and morally suspect. In addition, such racializations in academic criminology can be used to justify increased control of individual black criminals in the larger society; these controls can also legitimately be extended to encompass whole communities and whole categories of phenotypically similar persons who are not involved in crime. This paper will address the role that racializing assumptions play in traditional criminological theories.     

Providing a secure base for LGBTQ young people in foster care: The role of foster carers

The experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) young people in care have been overlooked in England, in both policy and research. This paper reports on findings from the first study of LGBTQ young people in care in England and focuses on the nature of foster carers' experiences and perspectives on caring for LGBTQ young people. Qualitative interviews regarding the fostering role in caring for LGBTQ young people were conducted with a sample of foster carers (n = 26) and analysed thematically. Foster carers described the importance of offering LGBTQ young people not only the nurturing relationships that all children in care need but also availability, sensitivity and acceptance to help young people manage stigma and other challenges associated with minority sexual orientation and gender identity. The Secure Base caregiving model provided a framework for analysing the different dimensions of these relationships. Understanding caregiving roles and relationships for LGBTQ young people in care has important implications for recruiting, training, matching and supporting foster carers to care for LGBTQ young people effectively.     

Depressive Symptoms,Acute Alcohol Intoxication,and Risk Rationale Effects on Men’s Condom Use Resistance

This study examined the role of depressive symptoms, acute intoxication, and risk rationale in men’s use of condom use resistance (CUR) tactics in an experimental study. Participants included 313 heterosexual male, nonproblem drinkers, ages 21 to 30. Participants were randomized to one of four beverage conditions: no alcohol, placebo, low (.04%) alcohol dose, or high (.08%) alcohol dose. They read an eroticized scenario depicting a consensual sexual encounter with a female partner who requested a condom to prevent either pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (risk rationale) and then indicated their intentions to use 10 different CUR tactics. Hypotheses related to the pharmacological, dosage, and expectancy effects of alcohol were tested in a generalized linear model. In intoxicated (.04% and .08%) men who were given a pregnancy risk rationale, depressive symptoms were associated with stronger intentions to use CUR tactics than in sober (control and placebo) men. Men who received a high alcohol dose (.08%) and who were given a pregnancy risk rationale reported higher intentions to use CUR tactics than those who received a lower alcohol dose (.04%). Findings suggest that the pharmacological effects of alcohol on men’s likelihood to resist condoms vary by the saliency of the risk rationale and mood-related variables.     

Integration of business process management and knowledge management: state of the art,current research and future prospects

The integration of business process management (BPM) and knowledge management (KM) helps companies to improve temporal, qualitative and cost aspects of the provision of goods and services and to increase their innovative capacities. There are numerous publications in German and English that deal with the integration of both of these management approaches. By means of a comprehensive examination of this literature, the present article evaluates the state of knowledge and identifies additional research needs. More specifically, the volume of the publications examined is evaluated and classified by means of appropriate and carefully defined criteria. Moreover, the contents of the classes thus defined will be elucidated and then critically discussed. Finally, this article provides a general review of current approaches and their specific merits, and it will demonstrate the current deficits and spheres of activity in relation to the integration of BPM and KM.     

Bayesian estimation of the efficient frontier

In this paper, we consider the estimation of the three determining parameters of the efficient frontier, the expected return, and the variance of the global minimum variance portfolio and the slope parameter, from a Bayesian perspective. Their posterior distribution is derived by assigning the diffuse and the conjugate priors to the mean vector and the covariance matrix of the asset returns and is presented in terms of a stochastic representation. Furthermore, Bayesian estimates together with the standard uncertainties for all three parameters are provided, and their asymptotic distributions are established. All obtained findings are applied to real data, consisting of the returns on assets included into the S&P 500. The empirical properties of the efficient frontier are then examined in detail.     

‘Occupation Children’ in Germany after World War II — Problems and Coping Strategies

The article focuses on the autobiographical memories of people born in Germany after the Second World War, whose mothers were local women and whose fathers were members of the allied forces. Based on the analysis of narrative interviews, we ask how these people experienced their growing up and their sociocultural environment in the post‐war era, and what kind of coping strategies they developed to deal with adverse living conditions.     

Interkulturelles Coaching – eine komplexe,systemische Herausforderung

Intercultural coaching takes place in the highly complex reality of a globalized world. The coachee is an individual acting in the situational context of his assignment and his corporate culture. He has been socialized in his own culture, but is communicating and interacting with people who have been socialized in different cultures. In order to identify and solve problems, all three aspects (person, situation, culture) have to be considered. Some aspects may have more influence than others may, but they combine in a closely interwoven system. The authors outline the theoretical background of intercultural coaching and illustrate the process with case studies.     

Accommodating diverse clients' needs in evaluation capacity building: A case study of the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center

In this case study, we detail and analyze how the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center (TCEC), an evaluation technical assistance center that serves approximately 100 local tobacco control organizations in California, endeavors to build capacity among the state-funded local providers it serves by using evaluation capacity building activities with an utilization-focused evaluation framework. We call this a "blended approach" and describe these methods. Satisfaction and demand for TCEC services are documented to provide measurements for evaluation capacity building. Final evaluation report scores from two intervention cycles (2004-2007 and 2007-2010) submitted to the California Health Department, Tobacco Control Division are also assessed and compared. These measures demonstrate an increase in evaluation capacity by local projects under TCEC's purview.