Was ist von der Familienpolitik der Großen Koalition zu erwarten?

A major evaluation of family policies in Germany came to the primary conclusions that family leave and early childhood education and care policies are effective. Specific German tax regulations, however, are less effective, as they decrease the incentives, especially for mothers, to return to the labour market or increase the number of hours they work. The tax regulations for couples, in particular, should be reformed, as this would offer funding possibilities for other worthwhile policies. However, it should not be forgotten that tax regulations are not just aimed at family policies. Indeed, their primary function is to reduce the burden on families and to keep them out of poverty, as demanded by the Germany Federal Constitutional Court. Given the findings of this evaluation, the new German government plans to implement policies which make sense but which do not go far enough. Public child care has been shown to increase maternal employment, household income and fertility in Germany. There are good reasons to invest further in public child care for young children; however, the focus should not only be on the quantity but also the quality of care.     

The intranet's role in newcomer socialization in the hotel industry in Taiwan – technology acceptance model analysis

This study examined a research model for explaining the relationships of intranet adoption and newcomers' organizational socialization in the hotel industry. Data were gathered for a structural equation model (SEM) analysis, from 298 individual participants, who had only worked in a hotel for 6 months to 1 year. The research results demonstrated the mediation role of the perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use of the intranet. The SEM results also revealed that usage of the intranet did increase the extent of an employee's socialization into the organization. Moreover, PU has direct and indirect effects on socialization. Tests on gender and age differences were conducted. The invariance analysis of the theory model showed that both males and females demonstrated the same patterns in performing technology acceptance factors and socialization, whereas different age groups demonstrated significantly different paths. The direct effect of PU was not significant for the newcomers aged over 35.     

Innovation for Inclusive Growth: Towards a Theoretical Framework and a Research Agenda

Inclusive innovation, which we define as innovation that benefits the disenfranchised, is a process as well as a performance outcome. Consideration of inclusive innovation points to inequalities that may arise in the development and commercialization of innovations, and also acknowledges the inequalities that may occur as a result of value creation and capture. We outline opportunities for the development of theory and empirical research around this construct in the fields of entrepreneurship, strategy, and marketing. We aim for a synthesis in views of inclusive innovation and call for future research that deals directly with value creation and the distributional consequences of innovation.     

CEO's empathy and salience of socioemotional wealth in family SMEs – The moderating role of external directors

A focus on preserving socioemotional wealth may influence entrepreneurial activities in family firms. In this paper, we identify the emotion of empathy in the family CEO as an antecedent of socioemotional wealth creation. We argue that the presence of one or more external directors can have a direct as well as moderating influence on the relationship between CEO's empathy and the salience of socioemotional wealth to the family CEO. Our empirical tests confirm these hypotheses. Several areas of future research are suggested to incorporate empathy and other emotions in family business studies.     

Limits to strategic HRM: the case of the Mauritian civil service

Taking as its starting point the impressive evidence for the strategic human resource management (SHRM) model's effect on organizational performance, and for the relationship between public staff management and economic growth, the paper offers the civil service of Mauritius as a case study of SHRM's relevance to developing countries. It finds that SHRM is not practised in Mauritius, nor is it feasible in the near future, because it is not widely known, because there is no strategic management framework, because staff management is highly centralized and because political will to make radical changes in staff management is lacking. The case study does not support claims that SHRM and its associated practices have a universal validity, or that public staff management is a ‘magic bullet’ that delivers economic growth. Improvements to staff management in Mauritius, and possibly other developing countries, will require a creative and piecemeal adaptation of Anglophone ‘good practice’ that respects political, economic and social realities.     

Marketing and the law

Marketing decisions are particularly vulnerable to legal rulings made in both the courts and the legislatures. The effective management of those legal implications challenges the modern marketing professional. Grasping marketing’s overall legal environment, including its governing case law, regulatory statutes and future trends, is essential. This review will provide analysis of recent court cases and legislation with particular emphasis on creatively assisting the marketer’s management of the legal factor.     

An Analysis of REIT CEO Stock-Based Compensation

Academic research findings on the determinants of executive compensation are mixed. Some researchers attribute this to the inclusion of stock-based compensation in the more recent studies. We study the determinants of stock-based compensation schemes in the REIT industry for the period 1997–2000. While previous research analyzes REIT CEOs' cash-based compensation, we concentrate on option compensation structures. Using the Tobit method, we study both the level of option awards and the mix of option awards to total compensation. We find that REIT CEOs receive larger option awards when they increase growth opportunities, funds from operation, earnings per share and when there is greater variability of returns. Thus, our results validate most of the theories on stock-based compensation.