Sister Communities: Rejecting Labels of Informality and Peripherality in Vanuatu

Some labels have dire consequences. This article takes issue with the labels commonly used to describe the physical and social location of communities living on the edge of Port Vila, Vanuatu—labels that position communities for eviction by entrenching tropes of informality and peripherality into how they are seen and represented. Such terms include informal, settlement, informal settlement, squatter and peri-urban. Based on interviews with around 100 people and two years of ethnographic engagement with urban communities in Port Vila, Vanuatu, I critique the language of policy against the lived experience of those at the urban edge. I use Bourdieu's articulation of power as an accumulation of symbolic capital that enables one to speak the world into being. I conclude that the language of policies and plans is reflective of a dominant discourse in urban studies and international aid, and non-reflective of the experience and identities of people living at the urban edge. My interviewees and interlocutors maintain their identities as sister communities—as places grounded in the formality of customary tenure, and as part of the city rather than outside it.     

浅析我国公务员考核形式化的表现与危害

我国公务员考核的形式化主要表现在＂互惠主义＂与＂轮流坐庄＂、＂宽大化＂倾向与＂称职大平台＂、＂从众心理＂与群众考评失效等三个方面。公务员考核的形式化不仅会挫伤公务员工作的积极性、损害我国的公务员制度,还会降低政府的工作效率,同时也不利于我国的公务员队伍建设。     

欧共体竞争法关于滥用支配地位的规定探析

被誉为"欧洲一体化的发动机"的欧共体竞争法,是颇具特色的法规.文章结合欧共体委员会和欧洲法院的具体判例,剖析了欧共体竞争法的核心法条,就何谓企业滥用支配地位、何谓影响成员国之间的贸易以及滥用支配地位的表现形式等问题进行了深入的探讨,对我国的相关立法和执法有借鉴作用.     

Definition and Measurement of Environmental Uncertainty in Channels of Distribution Research:

A definition and measure for environmental uncertainty are proposed for channels of distribution research. They reflect the notion that environmental uncertainty should be viewed as a perceptual phenomenon experienced through decision-making. Key outcomes of interest that a channel member faces in the decision environment are important components of this construct. Uncertainty is operationalized based on a respondent's lack of information about, and inability to predict the future occurrence of, each outcome of interest. Results of a pilot test support the reliability and pragmatic validity of a modified 18-item measure of environmental uncertainty.     

An exploration of older worker flexible working arrangements in smaller firms

This article explores flexible working arrangements (FWAs) for older workers in smaller UK firms. We address three questions: how far older workers need and value FWAs, the type of FWAs they need, and whether smaller firms can offer these FWAs. We draw on 46 semi‐structured interviews from six smaller case study firms to present a qualitative exploration of both owner‐manager and (under‐researched) worker perspectives. We evidence the offer and importance of temporal and work‐role FWAs, together with the use of i‐deals and ad hoc FWAs in meeting the needs of this diverse group. We make three contributions: first, theoretically, in arguing for an extended definition of FWAs and understanding formality of offer; second, to practice, in highlighting FWA mechanisms appropriate to older workers; third, to policy, in questioning the effectiveness of both the business case approach to older worker FWAs in smaller firms and policy's positioning of older workers as a homogeneous group.     

MNEs and the practice of international business diplomacy

Scholars of international relations and international political economy have long documented international business diplomacy (IBD) as a practice of multinational enterprises (MNEs), although the specific practices involved have not been consistently established in international business scholarship. We apply "practice theory" to position IBD within the realm of MNEs’ global non-market strategy (NMS), arguing that IBD constitutes a set of practices in the implementation of global NMS, and that the most appropriate practices depend upon two key dimensions of the global institutional governance regime faced by the MNEs: the governance level and the degree of rule formality.     

The link between formality and procedural fairness: The influences of precision,sensitivity and role clarity

This study investigates the complex and not straight-forward association between formality and procedural fairness. It examines the mediating roles of precision of performance measures, sensitivity of performance measures and role clarity. Using survey responses of functional managers of Australian manufacturing firms, the study finds that the link between formality and procedural fairness is mediated by sensitivity of performance measures and role clarity. Role clarity also mediates the link between sensitivity of performance measures and procedural fairness. Our study contributes to the literature by identifying two important factors through which formal performance evaluation can enhance procedural fairness, which is a source of performance motivation.