Is China up to the Test？ A Review of Theories and Priorities for Education Investment for a Modern China

This paper reviews the key theories relating to the role of education in economic development and social change and how education, as a critical component of total factor productivity, contributes to sustained economic growth. It examines how China ＂s education policy reflects the country＇s unique dual economy. Focusing on the post-reform period, the paper contends that while progress has been made, there are risks to China＇s future growth prospects from failing to reap the benefits of sound education policy. It argues that if the Chinese education system is to continue to be a driver of rather than a drain on economic growth, and if China is to successfully manage its transition towards more inclusive, sustainable and equitable growth, reforms will be needed to improve the quality of education at all levels and to create an environment in which China＇s extensive human capital is duly recognized and respected. Crucially, the education system should be transformed to ensure it promotes a comprehensive range of human capabilities, including those that go beyond the part humans play in augmenting production possibilities.     

Workers in Food Distribution: Global Commodity Chains and Lean Logistics

This paper examines warehouse workers' experiences of the labour process and employment relations in an ambient food distribution depot governed by a labour management system described as lean logistics. Lean logistics is seen by the sector as an aid to, and necessary development of, the globalisation of the sector's supply chain (global commodity chain). The focus is on how the restructuring of work as a result of lean logistics and the consequent imposition of a supermarket Taylorist work culture led to the demise of an industrial workplace culture and a dramatic deterioration in pay and working conditions. The latter included an increase in the scope and intensity of management control of labour.     

Simon Broadbent: a tribute

Alcohol-impaired driving (AID) has devastating effects on society. To decrease the incidence of AID, high-risk populations like college students are often targeted by anti-AID advertising campaigns. The present study examines the effectiveness of anti-AID advertisements as a function of pre-existing audience mood. Two experiments showed that congruity between the mood of the audience (positive, negative) and the regulatory focus of the ad (promotion, prevention) can increase advertising effectiveness. Positive mood enhanced the effectiveness of promotion-framed ads, whereas negative mood enhanced the effectiveness of prevention-framed ads. The effects were attributable to differential engagement in global or local processing. Positive mood induced a tendency to engage in global processing, and negative mood fostered engagement in local processing. Theoretical contributions are considered along with actionable recommendations for the creators of anti-AID advertising campaigns.     

Linking employee and customer misbehaviour: The moderating role of past misdemeanours

Abstract

Traditionally, studies that examine the activities of misbehaving employees and customers have done so in a separate and unrelated manner. Drawing on research that explores deviance amplifications and deviant learning, the current study aims to address this identified gap in the literature and provide empirical evidence of the linkages between perceived employee deviance and the severity of customer misbehaviour. Utilising equity, power and differential association theories, a conceptual model is forwarded comprising four hypotheses between the constructs: perceived employee service deviance; customer repatronage intent; severity of customer misbehaviour; and past customer misbehaviour. Using survey responses from 380 consumers of bars, hotels and restaurants, the empirical results offer support for the forwarded research model. The results show that customers perceiving employee misbehaviour are profoundly affected. Such experiences erode their repatronage intentions and are linked (directly and indirectly) to the severity of dysfunctional customer behaviour performed. Consumers’ past experience of misbehaviour is also found to impact the hypothesised relationships. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the findings and outlining directions for future research.     

Ontology-based e-Assessment for Accounting Education

Abstract

This summary reports on a pilot of a novel, ontology-based e-assessment system in accounting. The system, OeLe, uses emerging semantic technologies to offer an online assessment environment capable of marking students' free text answers to questions of a conceptual nature. It does this by matching their response with a ‘concept map’ or ‘ontology’ of domain knowledge expressed by subject specialists. This article describes the potential affordances and demands of ontology-based assessment and offers suggestions for future development of such an approach.     

Understanding the decision-making processes for arts sponsorship

• Corporate support is a significant revenue stream for non-profit organisations, yet little is known of the actual decision paths companies take when making these decisions and what characterises these paths. This study seeks to develop a greater understanding of decision processes for companies considering sponsorship of the arts. A multiple-case study approach was taken, with participants from arts organisations and paired sponsoring companies, resulting in the finding of three decision paths: one characterised as high-level and intuitive, one as driven at a lower-level, and a third initially instigated by a third party. Analysis of these paths highlights the importance of existing relationships as well as a ‘fit’ between both parties. In addition, the company's orientation towards more commercial or philanthropic goals is found to be a key element determining the path taken, and the role of individual informed intuition is highlighted as crucial in moving decisions forward. This study extends knowledge in sponsorship and corporate philanthropy, into a decision making and arts sponsorship context. The findings also offer a useful perspective for non-profit arts managers as they pitch their event to the business sector.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Since You’re Asking. . . ”: Free Text Commentaries in an Epidemiological Study of Low Back Pain Consulters in Primary Care

As part of a longitudinal mixed-method study on low back pain (LBP), free-text comments were invited at the end of the 12 month follow-up survey questionnaire. 80% of respondents used this option and provided a wealth of material so that comparisons could be made with survey and interview results. People reported pain in other parts of the body apart from LBP, and illustrated the impact of LBP on physical ability and work, psychological well-being and social activities. Free-text material offers valuable insights that strengthen the findings of the survey, and the study as a whole.     

Shopping and virtual communities for consumers with physical disabilities

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the use of virtual communities for clothing shopping by consumers with physical disabilities, and to explore the role that these communities play in their clothing shopping experiences. An international virtual community created for consumers with disabilities was identified using keywords through search engine directories. The content of discussion forums was identified and analysed with the assistance of the qualitative research software tool, QSR NVivo 9.0. The content was coded to allow categories and themes to emerge. Thirty‐one categories, which were dispersed between three major themes (self, product, market), emerged from data analysis. In the discussions, various communication channels and social media sites were mentioned, and users enhanced their discussion topics with a photograph of a product or an Internet link, providing further assistance to peers. Consumers also shared personal information, such as life experiences. The results of this study may provide significant implications to retailers in their efforts to target these consumers, in various areas including product development, branding, marketing, customer relationship and managerial strategies. There may also be relevance for development of other consumer goods and sales to other target markets. Using online discussion forums to probe for product development and brand ideas has not been widely addressed, nor has the information search process for people with disabilities. The use of QSR NVivo software is new for a study such as this and should be explored in greater depth for future research with this type of data.     

Extending the investment development path model to include the human environment factor

This article aims to address Dunning's call to include the “human environment” (HE) as a new trend and trajectory for research in international business (IB). Dunning argues that the most important driver for economic advancement is knowledge, which arises from the HE. We extend Dunning's IB theory of the five stages of a country's investment development path (IDP) to include the HE factor. Further, we use China as an example in which to examine the role of human resource management (HRM). We identify and analyze an important link between foreign direct investment, multinational enterprises, and both domestic and global HRM. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Anti‐dumping Protection in a Liberalising Country: Mexico's Anti‐dumping Policy and Practice

The use of anti‐dumping policy has been steadily growing in recent decades, and so has the theoretical and empirical literature on anti‐dumping. However, while developing countries as a whole have become at least as active as the ‘traditional’ anti‐dumping regimes (the USA, the EU, Canada and Australia), the literature is almost exclusively concerned with the latter group. This article gives an overview of anti‐dumping policy and practice in Mexico, one of the leading ‘new’ anti‐dumping regimes. It assesses how anti‐dumping has expanded since the country began liberalising trade in the mid‐1980s, and discusses how the policy has been applied in a protectionist way that is not dissimilar to policy practice in the traditional user countries.