When a Sinner Does a Good Deed: The Path‐Dependence of Reputation Repair

This study examines how shareholders will interpret a socially desirable action taken by firms with a damaged corporate reputation status. We first explain theoretically why shareholders’ path‐dependent judgments of a tainted firm increase the likelihood of shareholders making less favourable judgments of the firm's socially desirable actions. We then test the theoretical predictions using a sample of Chinese listed firms that were sanctioned for securities fraud and subsequently made donations to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake relief funds. We find that the shareholders evaluate the donations made by fraud‐tainted firms less favourably than those made by firms that have not been sanctioned for fraud. Furthermore, the shareholders’ evaluations of the donations made by fraud‐tainted firms is less favourable if the firms have committed more serious fraud and undertaken fewer positive remedial actions in the post‐fraud period. Overall, our evidence demonstrates that shareholders’ path‐dependent judgments of fraud‐tainted firms constitute a major obstacle that constrains the effectiveness of reputation repair.     

Macro‐integration with inequality constraints: an application to the integration of transport and trade statistics

Macro‐integration is the process of combining data from several sources at an aggregate level. We review a Bayesian approach to macro‐integration with special emphasis on the inclusion of inequality constraints. In particular, an approximate method of dealing with inequality constraints within the linear macro‐integration framework is proposed. This method is based on a normal approximation to the truncated multivariate normal distribution. The framework is then applied to the integration of international trade statistics and transport statistics. By combining these data sources, transit flows can be derived as differences between specific transport and trade flows. Two methods of imposing the inequality restrictions that transit flows must be non‐negative are compared. Moreover, the figures are improved by imposing the equality constraints that aggregates of incoming and outgoing transit flows must be equal.     

A note on the central limit theorem for the idleness process in a one‐sided reflected Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model

In this short communication, we present a (functional) central limit theorem for the idleness process of a one‐sided reflected Ornstein–Uhlenbeck proces.     

Making the ‘Invisible’ Visible: Redevelopment‐induced Displacement of Migrants in Shenzhen,China

Gentrification in China is intertwined with urban redevelopment, which causes the large‐scale displacement of rural–urban migrants from ‘villages in the city’ (ViCs). Because of the informality of ViCs, migrant renters have very insecure tenancy and during redevelopment they are treated as a negligible (‘invisible’) social group. As they are very difficult to locate after displacement, they are also literally invisible to researchers. To make the invisible visible, this study traced a sample of displaced migrants from Huangbeiling village in Shenzhen. The focus was on the displacement process and on identifying the consequences for the displaced. We found various forms of displacement during the redevelopment process. Nearby ViCs were prioritized by displaced migrants to minimize as much utility loss as possible. However, they generally suffer from decreased proximity, increased living costs, and the loss of social networks and job opportunities. Remarkably, some choose to return to the gentrifying village, enduring displacement in situ caused by increasing rents, drastic physical neighbourhood changes and declining liveability, in exchange for retaining their original social and economic networks. Large‐scale urban redevelopment is causing the rapid shrinkage of informal housing. Recognizing and addressing the housing needs of this impoverished social group is a matter of urgency.     

Information systems project manager soft competencies: A project‐phase investigation

This article investigates the soft competencies by project phase that information systems (IS) project managers require for project success. The authors conducted 33 qualitative interviews to collect data from a sample of 22 IS project managers and business leaders located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The authors identified the key competencies for each of the IS project phases (initiation, planning, implementation, and closeout). The competencies were sorted into competency categories: personal attributes (e.g., eye for details), communication (e.g., effective questioning), leadership (e.g., create an effective project environment), negotiations (e.g., consensus building), professionalism (e.g., lifelong learning), social skills (e.g., charisma), and project management competencies (e.g., manage expectations). Each of the most important competencies is discussed and interconnections among competencies identified. How this research can be used by the practitioner and academic communities and the broader implications of this research are examined.     

Modeling the Impact of Advertisement‐Image Congruity on Applicant Attraction

This study examines the effects of the perceived congruity of recruitment advertisements and organizational image on organizational attractiveness. Based on Mandler's schema congruity theory (1982) and on recruitment research, we developed hypotheses and tested them on a sample of 1,091 individuals. The results show that recruitment advertisements that conform to the organization's image show a higher degree of attractiveness to applicants, particularly because these advertisements have higher resulting credibility than advertisements with low congruity. Furthermore, applicants’ level of familiarity with the organization moderates the relationship between congruity and organizational attractiveness, as congruent recruitment advertisements lead to more positive effects for well‐known organizations. This suggests that highly recognizable organizations should use congruent advertisements to unleash the full potential of their recruitment efforts. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Investment and Growth: The Impact of Britain's Post‐War Trunk Roads Programme

In Great Britain, a basic inter‐urban network of motorways was completed in a very short period between the end of 1959 and 1972. We calculate that this substantial investment had the potential to reduce most inter‐urban journey times by about one third. In spite of this, a recent OECD study suggested that the investment had no discernible positive impact on the trend rate of economic growth. We attribute this outcome to a serious misalignment of the early investments with the then predominant flows of industrial and commercial traffics and a significant, and probably endogenous, increase in real wages in a road transport industry in which labour productivity was slow to improve. We conclude with a number of policy recommendations.     

Structuring of temporary multi‐organizations: Contingency theory in the building sector

The appropriate management of construction projects presupposes a clear comprehension of the structure of the temporary multi‐organization (TMO); however, most of the work on the structuring of TMOs has concentrated either on procurement strategies or the structure of individual organizations. Current approaches, therefore, do not fully consider the roles of all project stakeholders, the informal communications, and the complexity of the client organization. Instead, we argue that the contingency theory contributes to the understanding of the structuring of TMOs. The analysis of 27 recent construction projects allows us to identify two contingency factors and patterns of configuration of the TMO.     

Subsampling Inference with K Populations and a Non‐standard Behrens–Fisher Problem

We revisit the methodology and historical development of subsampling, and then explore in detail its use in hypothesis testing, an area which has received surprisingly modest attention. In particular, the general set‐up of a possibly high‐dimensional parameter with data from K populations is explored. The role of centring the subsampling distribution is highlighted, and it is shown that hypothesis testing with a data‐centred subsampling distribution is more powerful. In addition we demonstrate subsampling’s ability to handle a non‐standard Behrens–Fisher problem, i.e., a comparison of the means of two or more populations which may possess not only different and possibly infinite variances, but may also possess different distributions. However, our formulation is general, permitting even functional data and/or statistics. Finally, we provide theory for K ‐ sample U ‐ statistics that helps establish the asymptotic validity of subsampling confidence intervals and tests in this very general setting.     

Reducing intentions to resist future change: Combined effects of commitment‐based HR practices and ethical leadership

Change management, and particularly the human side of change, is a central tenet of the strategy of contemporary organizations. However, there is little evidence concerning how strategic HR practices influence how individuals anticipate and react to the implementation of a major change and how direct supervisors influence that process. With a sample of 191 employees from multiple organizations, who completed two surveys with a four‐week lag, we examined the role of commitment‐based HR practices on employees’ intentions to resist future change. We found that commitment‐based HR practices contribute to a decrease in intentions to resist future change, measured four weeks later, via increased affective commitment to change. Moreover, we found that this relationship is conditional on ethical leadership, in that it is significant when ethical leadership is high but not when it is low. Building on social exchange and uncertainty reduction theories, our findings contribute to the literature by examining how and under what boundary conditions HR practices are an effective means for organizations to anticipate and manage change.     

Beyond Space: Spatial (Re)Production and Middle‐Class Remaking Driven by Jiaoyufication in Nanjing City,China

An extension of gentrification, jiaoyufication–urban change driven by a desire for high‐quality education–is not only displacing previous lower‐class residents, but also replacing earlier jiaoyufiers with newcomers, turning formerly blue‐collar neighbourhoods into white‐collar ones. New middle‐class communities are emerging as spatially limited school catchment zones attract social groups who occupy these spaces in an attempt to facilitate social mobility or consolidate social status, causing tension between them. Consequently, jiaoyufication has narrowed down opportunities for intergenerational social mobility and exacerbated social polarization, gradually replacing traditional social hierarchies with intergenerational neoliberal stratification.     

Bartlett correction to the likelihood ratio test for MCAR with two‐step monotone sample

Assuming that two‐step monotone missing data is drawn from a multivariate normal population, this paper derives the Bartlett‐type correction to the likelihood ratio test for missing completely at random (MCAR), which plays an important role in the statistical analysis of incomplete datasets. The advantages of our approach are confirmed in Monte Carlo simulations. Our correction drastically improved the accuracy of the type I error in Little's (1988, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83 , 1198–1202) test for MCAR and performed well even on moderate sample sizes.