Who Benefits from Deregulating the Separation of Banking Activities? Differential Effects on Commercial Bank,Investment Bank,and Thrift Stock Returns

We analyze the deregulation impact on commercial banks, investment banks, and thrifts associated with four major events progressively integrating commercial and investment banking activities in the United States during the 1990s. We find that commercial banks are the only group to react favorably to Federal Reserve announcements relaxing firewalls and easing restrictions on commercial bank revenues from investment banking activities. These regulations primarily benefit large banks. The Bankers Trust acquisition announcement of investment bank Alex Brown is associated with increased wealth for each of the three types of financial service institutions. At the eventual deregulation of the financial services industry, with the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999, the values of commercial banks and investment banks increase significantly although thrifts are not affected.     

Seamless Leadership Learning in Curricular and Cocurricular Facets of University Life: A Pragmatic Approach to Praxis

The development of curricular and cocurricular leadership experiences is often a complex undertaking, second only to the complexities of learning how to lead effectively. The current article outlines the shared and diverse experiences of two leadership faculty charged with coordinating academic leadership programs at separate institutions. Both faculty members were previously student affairs professionals and chose to educate undergraduate leaders in the classroom while providing research for the leadership consortium. Additionally, both faculty members continue to partner with student affairs to facilitate strong curricular and cocurricular student experiences. The current article shares a practical approach to providing ongoing strategic practice opportunities for future leaders enrolled in academic, undergraduate leadership education programs while suggesting the creation of a common leadership language for both academic and cocurricular programs.     

Are commodity prices chaotic?

We conduct tests for the presence of low‐dimensional chaotic structure in the futures prices of four important agricultural commodities. Though there is strong evidence of non‐linear dependence, the evidence suggests that there is no long‐lasting chaotic structure. The dimension estimates for the commodity futures series are generally much higher than would be for low dimension chaotic series. Our test results indicate that autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH)‐type processes, with controls for seasonality and contract‐maturity effects, explain much of the non‐linearity in the data. We make a case that employing seasonally adjusted price series is important in obtaining robust results via some of the existing tests for chaotic structure. Finally, maximum likelihood methodologies, that are robust to the non‐linear dynamics, lend strong support to the Samuelson hypothesis of maturity effects in futures price changes.     

University research scientists as knowledge workers: contract status and employment opportunities

University research scientists epitomise knowledge workers who are positioned to avail of the employment conditions associated with ‘boundaryless careers’. Yet while employment flexibility has been hailed as a positive feature of knowledge work, relatively little is known about the forms such flexibility may take or its impact. This article considers the factors shaping the employment conditions of 40 research scientists working in five university research centres in Ireland. The findings suggest that, for knowledge workers such as research scientists, contract employment can deny them access to many of the employment conditions and opportunities that govern their long-term success as researchers.     

When caring stops, staffing doesn't really matter

How well do we understand the people side of staffing, and do we recognize the importance therein? Delivering care without caring is simply wrong. Health care leaders must take this concern seriously and find ways to invest in and set up structures that support healthy processing, by individual caregivers, of the many emotional situations that are a natural part of care delivery. Individual care provides must take responsibility for their own well-being and make choices that promote self-care. We must find more ways to recognize and address the needs of care providers who are facing emotional burnout or compassion fatigue, as they are both a threat to their own health and a potential risk to the patients and organizations they serve.     

Mentoring as an antidote to stress during corporate trauma

This article examines mentoring as a potentially useful resource in an organization's adaptation to global competition and the need for improved learning capabilities. We were surprised to find that mentoring relationships were perceived as more desirable under conditions of corporate stress, low job challenge, and low job involvement. We were further surprised to find that individuals in early and later career stages were as likely, or more likely than, their midcareer colleagues to embrace the mentoring role. Thus, it appears that mentoring may be more readily available as an antidote to stress than previously considered, and that it may be an important form of coping with the stressful, nonrewarding conditions that typically characterize corporate downsizing. Not only is mentoring an important form of promoting development (for self and for others), but it also may represent a valuable vehicle for social support and learning during times of major corporate change.     

Managing cross-gender mentoring

For many years, men have been helped to advanced in their careers by the interest and personal guidance of a mentor. Now, when women in business merit this special professional attention, problems can arise—including sexual attraction, marital disruption, and damaging gossip. These authors provide suggestions for men and women who must deal with this potentially dangerous situation.