European and Asian resistance to the use of the American case method in management training: possible cultural and systemic incongruencies

In this contribution to the use of the Harvard-style case-style method in the training of managers, a transfer problem is identified. This is manifested in the difficulties presented for many non-American students in the use of traditional case-studies. As a result, an example of a revised case method is proposed which offers more educational flexibility and better acceptability.     

以人为本视阂下高校党员教师党性修养与师德建设的探讨

新形势下高校党员教师的党性修养与师德高低关系着我国教育事业的成败。党性修养与师德建设具有内在的一致性。高校应将二者合二为一开展师德教育,“以师为本”,建立合理的师德评价机制,注重教师专业成长,增强教师的职业荣誉感。     

Working Conditions of the Child Worker in Turkish Labour Law

Child labor is one of the most important subjects related to work in Turkey. The children of the poor families feel the necessity to enter the work force. The necessity which stems from the economic hardship forces the child and adolescent workers to accept unhealthy working conditions. Having said that, it would be wrong to assume that the sole purpose of the children workers is to earn a living. Research indicates that another purpose is to learn a profession. There exist regulations that limit the child labor in Turkey. Through these regulations, several occupations are prohibited to be undertaken by child labor and reduction in working hours is enforced. The Labor Code that came into force in 2003 contains important regulations in this regard. The labor Code introduced important responsibilities to employers and unions. Turkey also took part in international agreements and working towards fulfilling her duty as a result of these agreements. Furthermore, Ministry of Labor and Social Security runs several programs tailored for child labor. IPEC Project is the important program among those. These programs involve not only the child labor, but also their families as well. To sum up, Turkey is aware of the fact that child labor is a social and economic problem. As a result, the efforts towards resolving the issue is ongoing and important steps are being taken towards the EU membership.

Determinants of work organization in the modern firm: change and continuity in the Spanish labour relations

The host of statistical data on labour organization from the 2004 Encuesta de Calidad de Vida en el Trabajo (2005) will be used as a basis for using factorial analysis to identify the factors that determine how ‘modern’ companies organize their work according to business management literature. Workers' identification with their company seems to be the essence of a good part of business managers' objectives. The results of the research point to a continuity in a worker profile that largely corresponds to the Fordist model, with a few significant changes: the domain of some non-conflictive industrial relations which is settled on the value that is given to the good relationships with mates and managers and the flexible work-class positive assessment that allows to harmonize other life aspects.     

Distancing flexibility in the hotel industry: the role of employment agencies as labour suppliers

Two interrelated aspects of the debate on the nature of labour supply chain in the hotel industry form the focus of this research article. First, the notion of a shift to some forms of human resources recruitment strategies which seeks to use agency staff as a means of generating economical benefits – as opposed to conventional permanent staffing; and, second, the paramount importance of using distancing flexibility through effective agency utilization with the consequence of controlling labour costs, satisfying firm's demand for labour, and to respond to possible fluctuations in manpower needs. To this end, the research advocates the use of qualitative methodology in the form of semi-structured and in-depth interviews with hotel housekeeping managers, their partner agency managers and their flexible workers. Based upon the interviewees' responses and other documentary sources, we find, among others, that pursuing labour flexibility appears to be inevitable in the hotel industry; that the three-tier flexible firm model (Atkinson 1984 Atkinson, J. 1984. Manpower Strategies for Flexible Organizations. Personnel Management, August, : 28–31.  [Google Scholar]) does not provide a full account of the supply chain relationship between hotels and employment agencies; and that employees are being relatively treated as a ‘cost’ – as opposed to a ‘resource’ (see Slack, Chambers and Johnston 2004 Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R. 2004. Operations Management, (4th ed.),, London: FT Prentice Hall.  [Google Scholar]). To conclude, the research evidence is used, combined with previous literature, to discuss the implications of these results for broader debates on the utilization of flexible workers in the supply chain relationship between the client hotels and their partner agencies.     

Flexibility bites back: the multiple and hidden costs of flexible employment policies

Flexible labour markets are increasingly regarded as the answer to a wide spectrum of labour market and societal challenges from creating jobs to reducing segmentation and welfare dependency, improving public finances and supporting workforce diversity and innovation. The contention is that, contrary to these claims, flexible labour markets generate fundamental contradictions and unsustainable long‐term trends. The jobs miracle is exaggerated and based on low productivity jobs, outsiders often lose most from competition, claimants must work flexibly but still secure a full‐time wage, low‐wage employment is shrinking the fiscal base, jobs are not being adjusted to accommodate workers' changing needs and capacities and the disposable labour model is undermining long‐term productivity.     

Total Labour Requirements and Value Added Productivity of Labour in the Process of Economic Development

When the inverse of the value added productivity of labour is regressed on total labour requirements (which is equivalent to labour values), a significant relationship is obtained. This indicates that the value added productivity of labour can be explained by total labour requirements (labour values). The mean value of the regression coefficients is about 1.7. The regression coefficients have a tendency to increase during the process of rapid economic development and to decrease afterwards. Such movements are explained by value added linkages. This study is based on input–output analysis, where total labour requirements per monetary unit of output and the value added productivity of labour are calculated for each of 24 industries in Japan, Korea and USA, every 5 years between 1960 to 1985.     

Shortages in an ageing labour market: an analysis of employers' behaviour

Different policies are being promoted to increase the labour supply in ageing labour markets. This article presents the results of a large-scale survey carried out among Dutch employers into their management of the constraints presented by a tight labour market. Organizations take different measures in response to staff shortages, which can in fact be distinguished as four strategies. The first relates to the recruitment of new groups of workers: groups that traditionally were perhaps not a preferred choice. The principal measures in this strategy are the recruitment of women and ethnic workers, and to a lesser extent the elderly. The second strategy focused on increasing the labour supply of existing workers. Overtime, encouraging part-timers to work extra hours and a structural increase in the length of the working week were part of this strategy. The measures constituting the third strategy were of a different type. Generally, these measures were adopted in order to cope with temporary peaks. Work was outsourced, a recruitment agency used, and higher wages offered to try to fill a vacancy. The fourth strategy focused on substituting technology/capital for labour. Regression analyses is carried out to explain which strategies organizations use to deal with shortages.     

Discrete Hours Labour Supply Modelling: Specification, Estimation and Simulation

Abstract.  The assumption behind discrete hours labour supply modelling is that utility‐maximising individuals choose from a relatively small number of hours levels, rather than being able to vary hours worked continuously. Such models are becoming widely used in view of their substantial advantages, compared with a continuous hours approach, when estimating and their role in tax policy microsimulation. This paper provides an introduction to the basic analytics of discrete hours labour supply modelling. Special attention is given to model specification, maximum likelihood estimation and microsimulation of tax reforms. The analysis is at each stage illustrated by the use of numerical examples. At the end, an empirical example of a hypothetical policy change to the social security system is given to illustrate the role of discrete hours microsimulation in the analysis of tax and transfer policy changes.     

班级管理中的教育创新与科学管理

班级作为学校的基本单位,如何通过教育创新和科学管理实现班级群体的个性化塑造和社会需要之间的有效衔接,从而实现教育目标和教育功能,是摆在教育工作者面前的重要历史使命.文章通过对班级管理发展趋势以及班级管理功能的分析,提出应在班级管理中引入教育创新和科学管理的理念.     

A labour market perspective on management training and development in Europe

This paper uses recent survey data to undertake a comparative analysis of management development across six Western European countries. Unlike most studies that compare management development practices, we rely on an institutional labour market perspective to compare managerial skills development and training. We suggest that, while there are few differences in terms of the priority firms from different countries give to developing managers, the methods that are used and skill profiles can differ considerably. Furthermore, institutional change may also challenge some conventional views of how managers are being developed. We conclude by distinguishing four country systems that reflect a series of common characteristic strengths and weaknesses of national managerial training systems.     

The success of job applications: a new approach to program evaluation

This paper suggests a novel approach to program evaluation that allows identification of the causal effect of a training program on the likelihood of being invited to a job interview under weak assumptions, i.e., by measuring the program-effects by pre- and post-treatment data that are very close in time for the same individual.     

THE ECONOMICS OF ABSENCE: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

Abstract. Worker absenteeism constitutes a significant loss of work-time and therefore has important implications for both household income and firm productivity. Despite this, the economics profession has been somewhat laggard relative to other disciplines in addressing the phenomenon. The situation is, however, changing, with recent years witnessing a mild flurry of activity. The aim of this paper is to maintain, and if possible, enhance this momentum. We do this firstly by developing some basic theoretical ideas which we consider to be central to an economic analysis of absence. In particular, we address the often cited claim that observed absence is unequivocally inefficient. Second, by reviewing some of the key contributions, we attempt to assess where the literature on the economics of absence stands at present, as well as suggesting some potentially fruitful lines of future enquiry.     

Pyramids, Derricks and Mule Teams in the Yucatán Peninsula: A Second Effort In 2,500 Years to Develop a Jungle and Forest Area

A bstract . Over a period of 1200 years the Maya civilization in the Yucatáin Peninsula of Mexico rose, flourished, declined and fell. Jungle and forest closed in on great cities, pyramids, monuments and roads, and the area became depopulated. In recent decades a second effort is being made to achieve the economic development of the region. Once again a viable agriculture is being established. Oil deposits are being exploited, as the basis of local industries. Networks of roads link the communities of the region with each other, with the state capital and with the national capital. The Mayans, who once remained aloof in forest enclaves, are being integrated into the nation by a successful literacy program. The results of educational, settlement and industrialization programs raise hopes that the highly culturaliy endowed Maya and their newcomer neighbors may be laying the foundation for another civilization that could be another milestone in the progress of humanity.     

解读斯密分工理论,构建社会和谐分工

劳动分工不是一个新的论题,我们的前人早已看到了分工的重要性,分工是社会发展的需要。政治经济学之父亚当·斯密在《国富论》中阐述了分工理论,现在读来其思想的闪光点依然为我们所见。本文引入斯密分工理论,结合现实,提出新时代的分工思想,对建立社会劳动和谐分工作一探讨。     

Systems analysis approach to research on German education

The paper shows some of the experience of the empirical research on demographic accounting which is being carried out at Heidelberg University, F.R. of Germany. The first part of the paper presents the system including the subsystems (population system, educational system, manpower system). It contains some suggestions how to measure the connections between the subsystems. The first measure is a measure of substitution, the second deals with the degree of general use of a certain educational level in terms of occupation.

In the second part of the paper special reference is given to the empirical Heidelberg studies of the educational subsystem. At present the main purpose of the project is to try out the functional relations between the various transition rates involved in the system. There-upon a sensibility analysis will be developed which provides empirical data as to which transition rates are of strategic relevance for educational planning. Here the transition rates are defined as dependent variables, certain influencing factors or determinants as independent variables. Empirical results of the structural analysis will be published at the end of 1968, those of the sensibility analysis at the end of 1969.     

Measuring the Incidence of Over- and Undereducation

We deploy the unique opportunity of a dataset of Flemish school leavers to measure the incidence of over- and undereducation on the basis of the six applied measures in the literature. The incidence of overeducation in the first job after leaving school ranges from only 8% to 51%, undereducation ranges from 3% to 21%. While 66% is overeducated on the basis of at least one measure, only 3% is overeducated on the basis of every measure. Mismatch correlations range from 5% to 82%. Also the categories in terms of gender, educational level and region of residence with the highest likelihood of being overeducated depend on the measure. These findings clearly underline the weakness of the literature on this subject. However, measuring overeducation in different ways enables to derive some alternative concepts. Genuine overeducation amounts to about 20%. The incidence of over- and undereducation is both attributed to qualification inflation and deflation, and a credential gap. Finally, about 80% of the incidence of overeducation is classified as being structural.     

Modeling Educational Quality and Student Loyalty: A Quantitative Approach Based on the Theory of Information Cascades

Customer loyalty is widely accepted as a critical factor in the long-term success of a service organization. This study develops a model of information cascades-based student loyalty (ICSL) by embedding information cascades in the context of educational services with insight from more traditional educational research. In the ICSL model, student loyalty is influenced directly by the perceived quality of teaching services (QTS), the perceived signal of retention (PSR), and the perceived quality of administrative services (QAS), while also being influenced indirectly by QTS, QAS, and perceived others’ retention via the mediation of PSR. This study tests the ICSL model using the structural equation modeling approach, implementing empirical data from a survey done on a large private university in Taiwan. The test results reveal that PSR is significantly influenced by QTS, QAS, and perceived others’ retention. Accordingly, the influence of QAS on student loyalty is insignificant, while the influences of QTS and PSR on student loyalty are conversely significant. Finally, implications are also discussed.     

THE BENEFITS OF MIGRATION

This article focuses on the potential benefits of migration. Using the author's previous research on remittances and return migration, some of the welfare gains that can stem from the migratory process are highlighted. In the first part of the article, the impact of remittances on child well‐being in Vietnam is investigated. Both the incidence of child labour and school attendance rates in remittance recipient households are assessed. In the second part of the article, the contribution made by Tunisian return migrants to the development of their country of origin is examined. Both analyses suggest that, if certain conditions are met, migration can produce beneficial outcomes for the people and the countries involved in the process.