The inpatriate experience in multinational corporations: an exploratory case study in Germany

Despite inpatriates' growing importance for the scope of international business, research on this specific group of international assignees transferred to the corporate headquarters (HQ) of multinational corporations (MNCs) still remains in its infancy. Due to this research gap, a qualitative approach to the analysis of inpatriates' experiences was selected to uncover directions for subsequent research and derive factors that are relevant in the context of these cross-cultural assignments. This paper reports the results of exploratory interviews with 13 inpatriates assigned to the HQ of three German MNCs. The interviews explored the purpose of inpatriate assignments in MNCs and focused on identifying critical dimensions to assess their success. In addition, the relevance of individuals' cultural background and other factors that may impact on assignment outcomes were examined. The empirical results are instrumental in deriving two major research questions that may guide future research in the field of inpatriate assignments.     

Gender, self-employment and microcredit programs An Indonesian case study

Credit is often the missing link for low-income families that try to make a living by operating small microenterprises. At the same time, the presumption that lending to the poor is very risky, the costs of operation are high, and the low repayment rates for such loans limit bankers’ willingness to extend credit to the poor. This article, however reports on the results of a microcredit program in Indonesia which suggests that when agencies, government and non-government, in a developing country make credit available to low income women, they can reduce the costs of delivery, greatly increase repayment rates, and substantially improve the well-being of poor families. Other studies also suggest that such credit tends to increase women’s participation in decision making, reduces fertility, substantially improves household nutrition and raises aspirations for children’s education. Our case study cofirms these results.     

Modeling and initiating knowledge management program using FQFD: a case study involving a healthcare institute

Knowledge is the most important asset for an organization to create value and sustainable competitive advantage. This study deconstructs a knowledge management (KM) model for utilizing nursing knowledge assets in terms of KM processes and KM enablers. Knowledge management processes are the activities or initiatives an organization puts in place to enable and facilitate the creation, sharing and use of knowledge for organizational benefit. This study examines, analyzes and prioritizes the KM enablers to facilitate knowledge processes and foster the successful development of organizational knowledge. In doing so, this study applies fuzzy quality function deployment (QFD) to deploy the necessary enabler items in detail for KM implementation. Based on the analytical results of fuzzy QFD (FQFD) for the case-study hospital, the priority order of the KM enablers is measurement, leadership, technology and culture. The results of FQFD also show that reinforcing KM enablers is necessary to promote elements in the KM process for the case hospital during KM program implementation.     

An empirical investigation of the effectiveness of an integrated service recovery system

Although service recovery has become an increasingly-studied topic in the operations management literature, robust theories and accompanying empirical studies have only begun to emerge. For example, while many authors have identified and measured the specific activities that are perceived by consumers as effective ways to recover from failure, much less attention has been directed at the systematic structuring of recovery efforts to consistently ensure customer satisfaction and achieve improved, long-term organizational outcomes. Building on recent research that identified the principal constructs of service recovery, this study seeks to explore the relative effectiveness of an integrated service recovery system. Data from 158 service organizations are used to explore the relationship between the system and its associated recovery outcomes. Results indicate that a complete recovery system defined by seven distinct dimensions (formalization, decentralization, comprehensiveness, accessibility, influence, human intensity, and system intensity,) significantly impacts internal capability improvements as well as externally-perceived outcomes (i.e., speed, employee empathy, and recovery effectiveness) while both of these outcomes have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and market performance attributed to service recovery     

街区概念的理论建构与空间实践——1840以来的法国城市社区研究

"街区"是法国社区研究的核心概念。将1840年以来法国城市社区研究分为"一个地方性视角(1840-1918)"、"空间与社会现象的交汇(1919-1945)"、"多学科的建构(1946-1967)"、"社会问题与批判(1968-1979)"以及"新的社会冲突与多元化发展(1980以后)"五个阶段,从"空间实践"和"理论探索"两个角度对各阶段街区概念的发展进行梳理,并指出法国经验中"空间学科与社会学科"互动的重要意义。     

A physical examination of health care's readiness for a total quality management program: a case study

Initiating a total quality management (TQM) effort can be a time-consuming and costly effort for a hospital. Perceptions of management and employees are important in initiating TQM because people function as if perceptions are fact. Assessing these perceptions and determining the levels of readiness or resistance to change are important steps in reducing costs, thus increasing organizational ability to address proactively challenges to the implementation and ultimate success of a TQM effort. Key assessment criteria are discussed including a comparison of management and employee perceptions in one hospital.     

Thin layer chromatography, a case study

This paper gives an account of the collaboration between two mathematical statisticians and a toxicologist (the second author) interested in thin layer chromatography (TLC). A TLC "system" consists of a medium through which a solvent is transported. If a solution of some (toxic) sample is applied to the medium, then the components are carried forward by the solvent over different distances. Section 1 describes the concept of a data bank which provides standard values for the degrees of migration characteristic for each of m well-studied substances in each of n systems. Sections 2–5 are mainly devoted to the construction of The "best design(s)"{ j ₁*… j _k * } of k systems from the n available ones. The attention is restricted to the situation that an unidentified sample exclusively contains one of the m substances covered by the data bank and produces the scores xj … ^xj_k in the systems j,… j _krespectively. Three different approaches to the identification problem were successively considered. Each approach leads to a class of procedures and their performances. The performance of the optimum procedure can be used to define the performance of any of the ( ⁿ_k ) designs ( j ₁… j_k }. The latter performance is maximized in order to determine { j ₁*.,., j_k* }. In practice usually data is obtained for mixtures instead of single. pure substances. Section 6 gives some tentative theory for the evaluation of such data.     

Freedom and gross in-migration: an empirical study of the post-great recession experience

Determinants of migration, including policy variables such as tax rates, have been extensively studied by regional scientists over the past several decades. The development of the Economic Freedom of North America Index has allowed researchers to test the relationship between migration patterns and economic freedom, with recent studies finding that net in-migration is positively related to economic freedom. Using a new cross-section measure of economic and personal freedom at the state level, we investigate the relationship between gross in-migration and economic freedom on the one hand and then between gross in-migration and total freedom on the other hand. This empirical study of domestic U.S. migration during the post-Great Recession period finds clear evidence that migrants prefer to move to those states affording higher levels of economic freedom and higher levels of total freedom.     

Revolutionizing the workplace: A case study of the future of work program at Capital One

Today's workplace designs are being revolutionized due to the changing nature of work and worker profiles, the impact of technology, and the need for organizational efficiency and flexibility. Our case study of the Future of Work (FOW) program at Capital One highlights how thoughtful segmentation of work styles, supportive HR policy, customized workplace design, and the optimal use of technology can enhance knowledge work. FOW results show clear success in terms of increased employee satisfaction leading to improved organizational performance along with better real estate asset utilization and flexibility. To assist HR leaders and planners, we suggest a practical model that shows the impact of workplace design requirements on employee behavior and ultimately on organizational outcomes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An exploration of core competences of newly qualified nurses: a case study

The health care system is undergoing rapid change. Given the ever changing healthcare environment the responsibilities, competencies and skills expectations of new nurses is escalating. Therefore, there is need for a deeper and more systematic assessment of the competences affect on core competence of nurses. With this background, this paper attempts to identify and analyze the core competence for nurses. Thus, a DEMATEL method is applied. The DEMATEL not only can convert the relations between cause and effect of criteria into a visual structural model, but can also be used as a way to identify the key factors. The DEMATEL can be used as an effective method to handle the inner dependences within a set of criteria. Results show that the Personal feature Perspective is the causal dimension for the evaluation of core competences. This paper draws on the research results for managerial practice implications.     

入境旅游者体验质量动态评价研究——以西安入境欧美旅游者为例

以性别和年龄段完全吻合为样本提取标准,在2004年和2006年西安入境旅游者行为调查资料中各选取226份欧美旅游者行为调查问卷,动态比较了欧美旅游者对西安整体旅游环境的体验评价,在此基础上将影响旅游者体验质量评价因素划分为国家导向因素、旅游地管理部门导向因素和旅游地公民导向因素.     

如何处理这起土地违法案件

2003年3月,甲镇政府以行政命令的方式,征用了本镇乙村耕地10亩,并签定了征地补偿协议.甲镇政府对此块土地进行平整后,兴建了-座化工厂,该化工厂为甲镇所属的乡镇企业,有独立法人资格.……     

Trade union growth,the employer and the hotel and restaurant industry: a case study

The author discusses the prospects for trade union growth in this industry in the light of a case study of the development of a branch of the Transport and General Workers’ Union within the EMI-owned Angus Steak House chain.     

World Vision case study of Sigma,an analysis tool based on the Alterian database engine

One of the major issues charities have been concerned with for many years is the inability to access donor records for marketing analysis purposes—donor information has literally been locked up. Charity database tools such as Raiser's Edge and Alms have been built to provide donor details on a record‐by‐record basis rather than to provide summary information across the entire base. These tools carry out this function very well and have the added benefit of providing data to call centre staff as they make or receive calls from donors. As each charity has to compete more intensely for their share of donor value, however, more detailed behavioural analysis of donor bases is required. To do this, access to the entire donor data is essential, not one record at a time, but structured in a way that allows ad hoc querying. This paper discusses the various technologies that can be used to access donor data for analytical purposes and explains the merits of a new database engine developed by Alterian that allows easy and fast access to many records across multiple data tables. It also shows how one organisation has used the engine to develop a bespoke analysis tool for the charity sector and how a leading relief and development agency, World Vision, is using this tool. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

The conciliatory negotiation of change: a case study of the Norwich footwear Arbitration Board experience 1909–1980

The footwear industry is unique in its continuous use of joint local conciliation and arbitration boards to handle changes brought about by new technology and the contraction of its labour force. This case study draws on the experience of one board and assesses the wider lessons of an industry-wide arbitration system.