社区丰富环境对城市老年人认知变动轨迹的影响

采用中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查项目,收集2005、2008、2011、2014年各4531、1766、1384、1074名65~104岁城市老年人追踪数据,运用增长曲线模型,考察了城市老年人的认知能力随年龄的变化趋势以及社区丰富环境(社区组织社会活动、社区提供精神慰藉服务、社区提供医疗保健服务)对认知变动轨迹的影响。结果显示,随着年龄的增加,认知能力的下降速度越来越快。所在社区组织社会活动、提供精神慰藉服务的老人认知水平更高,认知能力的下降速度更慢,而社区医疗服务并未对城市老年人的认知变动轨迹造成显著影响。建议把握老年人认知功能的变化规律,在认知功能迅速下降之前及时干预,加强丰富环境的刺激,防止或减缓认知能力的进一步退化。     

人口老龄化背景下回归家庭养老的路径选择

随着我国人口老龄化进程的加快,养老模式与路径选择问题日益成为社会关注的主要问题。当前,家庭养老功能弱化,社会养老保障体系尚未完全形成,养老问题面临着新的困境。虽然养老模式开始逐渐趋于社会化和多元化,但家庭养老在我国有着很深的根基和不可替代的优势,在应对老龄化的过程中仍有着重要的支撑作用。家庭养老不仅有利于家庭关系的稳定和人力资本的投资,还能节约公共财政和社会资源。家庭养老的困难和危机不仅源于自身,还产生于社会和国家,政府应加大对家庭养老的支持力度,完善家庭养老保障的相关制度,强化家庭养老的社会关系网络,加大"孝"文化的宣传和教育。     

Long-term care,dependence and the third sector

The demographic changes that have taken place throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first century confirm the increase in the number of older adults. More older adults implicitly entail an increase in the number of people in a situation of dependence. The issue of long-term care has economic, social and health care implications. This article addresses the characteristics of the companies involved in long-term care services and the employment generated. The database of the Spanish Directory of Companies (DIRCE) provided information on the variables used in the analysis: companies created, employment generated, companies by legal status and territorial distribution of the companies. Noteworthy findings were that the long-term care service sector contributes more to creating jobs than other economic sectors and that third sector companies are important in providing long-term care services.     

The elderly food consumer: disadvantaged?

Older consumers are an important subgroup of the population whose numbers are rising. Intense competition between retailers and changes in patterns of food shopping among consumers in general have led to research that focuses on factors that contribute to older people being disadvantaged. Research in Scotland has investigated the impact of the food retail sector on elderly people and results indicate that elderly people shop frequently and spend a considerable proportion of their income on food. Income, location, transport and the supermarket environment are all potential factors that can contribute to the disadvantage of older people.     

Building a Sustainable Bank: The Case of GTBank of Nigeria

GTBank of Nigeria has, in just 20 years, developed into one of the most profitable and sustainable financial institutions in Africa. The case identifies the choices that helped the bank emerge successful from several shocks to the Nigerian financial sector and has implications for other financial institutions trying to balance sustainability and profitability. On the basis of eight years of research on the bank, we illustrate six factors that have characterized its success: (1) effective leadership, (2) a focus on people rather than strategy, (3) adopting a simple and focused strategy, (4) a culture of sustainable banking, (5) confronting effectively the external environment, and (6) exploitation of technology to accelerate the business. GTBank’s story raises questions about what makes a company sustainable and analyzes the decisions that executives need to make, often in challenging external circumstances, in order to preserve the long‐term sustainability of an organization. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

People-driven processes in customer relationship management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most popular strategies for an organization to satisfy its customers and obtain growth profits. Much attention of the research to date, however, has been paid to strategy, implementation, and organization performance, with the people dimension in CRM being under-researched. This study attempts to investigate the importance of people-driven processes of CRM in organizations and identify factors affecting the effectiveness of people-driven CRM processes. A multiple case study approach was applied and in-depth interviews were conducted with managers from four case companies to identify the factors influencing the people-driven CRM processes. Four dependency factors affecting the effectiveness of people-driven processes were identified, including customer emotional needs, customer involvement, employee capabilities, and organizational customer-oriented culture.     

The Influence of Reputation and Sector on Perceptions of Brand Alliances of Nonprofit Organizations

Brand alliances long have been used in the private sector and are being more frequently engaged by nonprofit organizations. It is assumed that the alliance benefits both organizations, particularly the focal nonprofit organization that strategically forms the partnership. But care must be taken in selecting partners. A quasi‐experimental design examines the relationship between partner reputation and sector (private or nonprofit) on subject willingness to contribute to a focal nonprofit organization. Partner public reputation was systematically varied using created organizations and a positive reputation enhanced willingness to contribute. Partnering with private sector organizations was only slightly less desirable than nonprofit organizations.     

城市中年人非正式养老准备问题初探——对南京市白下区的调查

学术界对"中年人"群体的养老研究相对薄弱。提出了"非正式养老准备"的概念。通过对南京市白下区的抽样调查,从个人、家庭与制度等方面探讨了城市中年人非正式养老准备的状况。结果表明:非正式养老准备普遍缺乏;非正式养老准备在各群体间呈现多样化;城市中年人非正式养老准备的途径单一。     

中国老年人口受教育程度发展趋势前瞻

针对中国教育事业的发展如何影响未来30年老年人口的受教育结构、2050年中国建成现代化强国时老年人口的平均受教育年限是多少等问题进行分析,在运用人口普查以及1%人口抽样调查等数据对中国老年人口教育水平历史演进做出回顾的基础上着重预测未来趋势。结果显示:老年人口在改革开放以来实现了从八成不识字到八成受教育的历史性转变,且男女两性老年人口在受教育程度上的差距趋于缩小;到本世纪中叶,老年人口的平均受教育年限预计可达10年,基本具备高中教育水平,且男女两性老年人口教育不平等的状况将会显著改变,受过高等教育比例快速上升。中国老年人口规模大增长的时代同时也是老年教育水平大提升的时代,这可以为健康老龄化和积极老龄化等创造更有利的发展环境。     

Toward a Model of Word-of-Mouth in the Health Care Sector

An important source of health information is word of mouth (WOM). Nevertheless, a model describing WOM in the health care sector does not exist. The aim of this paper is to contribute to research by providing concrete suggestions for a model of word of mouth in the health care sector. A conceptual framework comprising the theory of cognitive dissonance, the theory of the strength of weak ties, and the theory of perceived risk are used as a theoretical anchor. In order to gain a more precise knowledge of WOM in the health care sector, a literature review of leading health care journals is conducted. The findings are summarized in the form of a model proposal describing the creation, spread, and impact of WOM in the health care sector. As the model summarizes the current WOM literature, it seems to be a good starting point for further research by scholars. The paper also helps practitioners to better understand WOM and integrate the WOM aspects described into their daily work.     

Transforming a traditional research organization through public entrepreneurship

Public entrepreneurship is much like its private sector counterpart; however, public entrepreneurs face additional challenges due to weaker competitive forces in the public as compared to private sector, with objectives that often are poorly defined and performance that is difficult to measure. Despite the impact on public good, how to enact changes successfully in public sector organizations to be more entrepreneurial is poorly understood. This article summarizes current research on public entrepreneurship and presents a detailed case study of a successful entrepreneurial change in a public sector organization. A five-step change process used to enhance entrepreneurial behaviors was implemented in a public sector organization and the qualitative and quantitative results demonstrated substantial performance improvements over 4 years (i.e., quantitative performance in some areas was more than 10 times greater). We explain key steps that produced successful outcomes and how to avoid common challenges in the implementation of ongoing entrepreneurial behaviors in public sector contexts.     

The business of peace: Coca-Cola's contribution to stability,growth, and optimism

This article reviews the role of a global commercial organization, The Coca-Cola Company, in contributing to national stability in developing markets through a strategic approach to social and economic contribution. The company's initiatives complement the role of policymakers, who are primarily responsible for the safety and prosperity of citizens, often using the Golden Triangle model that aligns government, civil society, and the private sector. Examples are drawn from the empowerment of women and youth; leverage of specialist expertise in water replenishment and in distribution and logistics; the impact of global standards of compliance; and the creation of high-value jobs throughout the expansive value chain. The Coca-Cola system is global in scale but multi-local in its operations, leveraging universal human traits with high relevance in individual markets.     

Marketing Orientation in the Third Sector: The Art of Afro Reggae

Although there is a plethora of literature on marketing orientation in the private sector, within the nonprofit arena, this topic has been largely ignored. This paper analyzes the orientation and experience of Afro Reggae, a successful Brazilian nongovernmental organization that maintains a permanent presence in four drug-dominated slums in Rio de Janeiro. The present research uses the case study method for purposes of collecting and analyzing information. The paper discusses the implications for research in the area of marketing orientation in the third sector as well as the lessons learned regarding the low-income population vis-à-vis their experience with Afro Reggae.     

The relationship among gratitude,hope, connections,and innovativeness

The interwoven relationships among positive emotions and connections among people within the organization, manifested as collective gratitude and hope, and high-quality connections (HQCs), and firm service innovativeness and financial performance have rarely been addressed in the service innovation management literature. By studying 251 service firms, this paper shows that (a) collective gratitude is positively related to development of HQCs among people within the organization and firm service innovativeness, (b) HQCs among people within the organization are positively associated with firm service innovativeness, and (c) firm service innovativeness is positively related to firm financial performance. This paper also demonstrates that the collective hope of people within the organization positively moderates the relationship between collective gratitude and HQCs among them.     

基于网络关联与组织演化双重视角的中国跨国公司成长策略研究——来自欧美发达国家的经验借鉴与启示

从网络关联和组织演化两个方面,通过案例分析的研究方法,对欧美跨国公司的成长经验进行归纳和理论梳理。研究表明:在网络关联方面,欧美跨国公司的成长表现为网络广度的不断扩展与深度的不断加强,并且作为网络中心的母国或母公司在加强网络深度时更侧重于对发达区域的投资;在组织演化方面,欧洲和美国的跨国公司的组织模式选择存在差异性。在此基础上,结合中国跨国公司的成长与发展现状,从网络关联程度与组织模式选择两个方面提出中国跨国公司成长的相关策略。     

Nationale Geldsch?pfung zersetzt den Euroraum

The Eurosystem has been operating in crisis mode for more than four years now. Massive quantitative and qualitative easing in its monetary policy stance are the visible marks of its response to the turbulence in the financial sector. This policy aims primarily at maintaining financial stability in the euro area by providing vast liquidity support to commercial banks that are operating in nationally segmented banking systems. The sovereign debt crises in some member countries further exacerbate the segmentation problem along country borders. As a side effect, cross-border capital flows are substituted by money market operations by the national central banks. The latter are engaging more and more often in substantial balance-of-payments financing, and financial risks are shifted from investors to European taxpayers via the Eurosystem. Symptomatically, this shows up in exploding TARGET2 positions in the national central banks’ balance sheets. The longer this process continues, the stronger the centrifugal forces become that ultimately might burst the single currency. A solution requires a euro area-wide regulatory approach for the financial sector. Next to a uniform scheme for banking regulation, supervision and resolution, we recommend the comprehensive introduction of contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) as a major refinancing source for the banking industry. As this proposal cannot be introduced overnight, national and European banking resolution funds are necessary in the short run. The latter do not rescue banks, but they kick in as soon as a bank’s equity is depleted in order to wind down failing banks in a systemically prudent way.     

Alignment of Divergent Organizational Cultures in IT Public-Private Partnerships

The cooperation of public and private sector organizations is a viable option for decision makers in the public sector for improving information technology (IT) infrastructures, acquiring innovation, and increasing management know-how. Effective partnering in public-private partnerships (PPP) is difficult though, because the involved stakeholder groups have divergent interests and organizational cultures. Using institutional logics as meta-theoretical lens, this exploratory, interpretive case study analyzes an IT PPP in Germany. The results reveal public- and private-side organizational culture differences and how the partners aligned their cultural differences by the development and legitimization of a partnership norm as well as the necessary partnership practices. The case analysis also illustrates how public sector and private sector organizations succeeded with the transition of public sector and private sector employees into a partnership organization and the management of different organizational cultures.     

Occupational accidents in the Netherlands: incidence,mental harm,and their relationship with psychosocial factors at work

This study investigated the incidence of mental harm due to occupational accidents and the relation between psychosocial factors at work and the occurrence of occupational accidents in the Netherlands for the construction industry and health and welfare sector. Analyses revealed that occupational accidents in the construction industry more often involved physical harm, whereas accidents in the health and welfare sector relatively more often resulted in mental harm, in comparison to other sectors. Results showed that psychosocial factors were associated with occupational accidents in both sectors. For the construction industry, high time pressure and exposure to violence and harassment by colleagues or supervisors were associated with occupational accidents. For the health and welfare sector, low autonomy and exposure to violence and harassment by colleagues or supervisors or by people outside the organization were associated with occupational accidents. The present paper stresses the importance of also taking psychological consequences and psychosocial factors at work into account in assessing the occurrence of occupational accidents.     

The Economic Development Role of Regional Logistics Hubs: A Cross‐Country Study of Interorganizational Governance Models

As global competition intensifies, the geographic fragmentation of supply chain activities is creating a concentration of trade at regional freight gateways or hubs. This has significant implications for the economic prosperity of the specific gateway regions. The study explores the deliberate governance efforts of regional economic development agencies and the communities they support in their attempts to exploit location‐specific logistics assets to deliver economic productivity gains. Drawing on the new institutional economics’ body of literature, the research explores prevalent governance models which represent the proactive attempts by these agencies to transform regional logistics capability into cohesive hub strategies. By adopting exploratory cluster‐mapping procedures, web content analysis, and Delphi panels, study findings suggest a typology of multijurisdiction, and multiagency governance models representing the collaborative efforts between public sector and government agencies, academic institutions, and private sector organizations within selected European and U.S. logistics hubs. Each governance type is defined in accordance to specific economic organization and proficiency characteristics.     

Dispersed alarm systems – a review

The increase in the number of retired, elderly and very old in society has begun to pose the problem of how to provide access to care services for those in households which are not purpose built, specially adapted and serviced accommodation. Liberalization of telecommunications in the U.K. allied to technical advances have allowed ‘dispersed alarm systems’ to be developed and thus provide a means of communication between isolated elderly people in distress and a central emergency service. The selection of an appropriate system and its management are discussed in this paper.