Transitions: Two steps from theory to policy

This paper bridges a gap between emergent transition theories and the policy maker facing societal transitions when making long-term policy. Using a two-step approach the abstract concepts are linked to the realm of the policy maker. First the forces underlying transitions are identified and second where they can be found is presented. For this a conceptual map of societal systems, the clover model, is introduced. With the clover model the structures, cultures and practices of societal systems can be found. Furthermore, intermediate changes are systematically treated to track the phases of a transition. These transition diagnostics are supplemented with recommended policy frameworks.     

Gendered patterns in computing work in the late 1990s

Computing is one of the most growing industries offering many opportunities for employment and advancement. Furthermore it is one of the newest industries which comprises of mainly young firms and relatively freshly constituted forms of working practices. Using empirical work in the UK, this paper presents and asesses gendered patterns of work and employment in the computing sector whilst comparing it to other traditionally male-dominated sectors.     

Valuing high altitude spruce-fir forest improvements: importance of forest condition and recreation activity

High altitude spruce fir forests are typical around the world and are often subjected to multiple forms of recreational use. In this paper, we use household and recreation group data for a spruce fir forest high in the Appalachian Mountains of the U. S. to evaluate the benefits from forest protection (i. e., from improving the forest condition). Our benefits estimation procedures use the referendum-type, contingent valuation (CV) approach of Cameron (1988). We modify the usual practice of obtaining a single willingness-to-pay (WTP) value by using alternative questionnaire scenarios and conducting tests to examine i) household and recreation group value sensitivity to forest condition, and ii) recreation group differences in WTP for forest protection. A first sample of southeastern U. S. households was asked to value a forest protection program for a spruce-fir forest showing no impact from insect disturbance or atmospheric deposition. The second sample was asked to value a protection program for a forest already experiencing impact from insect infestation and air pollution. Logit analysis of the two samples revealed no statistically significant difference in household WTP between the two forest protection programs. Further analysis indicated that consumptive forest users (i. e., hunters and anglers) held forest protection values that were sensitive to a change forest condition, while nonconsumptive forest users (i. e., campers and hikers) held values that were insensitive to the same condition change. Recreation group comparisons revealed that consumptive forest users also held lower values for forest protection than nonconsumptive recreationists. These results demonstrate the importance of estimating public values for forest protection in terms of heterogeneous groups rather than as a homogeneous whole.     

Advertising directed to children: A look at the mother's point of view

The issue of whether to ban children's advertising from television has generated quite a controversy over the past several years. One view of the controversy which has received little attention, however, is the mothers'. This paper looks at those mothers who are both pro can con with regard to the idea of banning children's advertising. Bold Advertising     

Resources prospectively: How actors mobilize resources in business settings

Actors work with resources in putting their business plans into practice, some of which are close-at-hand and some at arm's length to that business. Furthermore, actors can transform and translate resources in more or less complex ways in bringing them into the realm of a business activity, for instance through a single transactional market exchange or a series of social exchanges, the economic dimensions of which are very much in the background. The IMP group's framings of resources in the Actors, Resources and Activities (ARA) approach and in the Resource Interaction approach form this paper's conceptual focus. The paper examines three cases of actors mobilizing resources and emphasizes: (1) The prospective or future-oriented quality of resources, in connection with actors' business plans and activities; (2) The distinct rules, customs and practices in settings that individuals recognize to be more or less economic and more or less social; and (3) The roles and identities of individuals alongside their business units.     

Transport infrastructure investments and competition for FDI

This paper studies how transport infrastructure investments (TIIs) affect a bidding war for a firm between two asymmetric countries within a region in a context of imperfect competition, where TIIs play the role of a global public good, leading to a reduction in the unit trade cost between the two countries. A number of interesting results are derived from the model. In particular, TIIs can intensify fiscal competition between the two countries. Surprisingly, this conventional wisdom seems to be confirmed by this paper for the first time. Welfare implications of the model are also examined.     

Spiraling Down into Corruption: A Dynamic Analysis of the Social Identity Processes that Cause Corruption in Organizations to Grow

To date, theory and research on corruption in organizations have primarily focused on its static antecedents. This article focuses on the spread and growth of corruption in organizations. For this purpose, three downward organizational spirals are formulated: the spiral of divergent norms, the spiral of pressure, and the spiral of opportunity. Social Identity Theory is used to explain the mechanisms of each of these spirals. Our dynamic perspective contributes to a greater understanding of the development of corruption in organizations and opens up promising avenues for future research. Niki A. den Nieuwenboer is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Business & Society Management at RSM Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Her research interests include the growth and development of collective corruption in organizations. She holds a Master of Arts in Social Psychology from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Prior to starting her academic career, she worked as a consultant in business ethics and fraud prevention for KPMG Forensic in Brussels, Belgium. Muel Kaptein is Professor of Business Ethics and Integrity Management at the Department of Business & Society Management at RSM Erasmus University, The Netherlands. His research interests include the management of ethics, the measurement of ethics, and the ethics of management. His␣research has been published in the Academy of Management Review, Business & Society, Corporate Governance, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Organization Studies, among others. He is the author of the books Ethics Management (Springer, 1998), The Balanced Company (Oxford University Press, 2002), and The Six Principles of Managing with Integrity (Articulate Press, 2005). He is also director at KPMG Integrity, which he co-founded in the Netherlands in 1995.     

Recreational demand for farm commonage in Ireland: A contingent valuation assessment

This paper measures willingness to pay (WTP) for public access and trail improvements on commonage farmland for recreational walking in upland and lowland areas of Connemara region in the West of Ireland using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Common to both upland and lowland commonage sites was the much higher ranking for infrastructural features by those WTP for scenario implementation compared to those preferring the status quo. Results for those expressing a positive WTP reveal a median willingness to pay (MWTP) for formal access with improved trail infrastructure of €12.22 for the lowlands compared with €9.08 for the uplands.     

Relationships among three facets of family-supportive work environments,work–family conflict and job satisfaction: a research in Greece

The purpose of the present study is to extend the line of current enquiry related to family-supportive work environments (FSWEs), and their relationships to work–family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction. Three facets of a FSWE are examined: family (non-) supportive culture, family-supportive management (FSM) and the model of ideal worker. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey from 612 employees. The results indicate that among the three facets of a FSWE, FSM appears to better predict both WFC and job satisfaction. Furthermore, WFC was negatively related to job satisfaction. An intriguing result is that the ideal worker model – manifested via long hours of work, visibility, availability and the dominance of organisation's needs over the family ones – was found to be positively related to job satisfaction, whilst it has no impact on WFC. Finally, the implications for practice and future research are discussed.