Contextual factors that foster or inhibit para‐teacher professional development: the case of an Indian,non‐governmental organization

The appointment of para‐professionals to overcome skill shortages and/or make efficient use of expensive resources is well established in both developing and developed countries. The present research concerns para‐teachers in India. The literature on para‐teachers is dominated by training for special needs settings, largely in developed societies. Little has been published about para‐teachers working in developing countries with children without disabilities, despite this being a common occurrence. The present research investigates how contextual factors influence the design and implementation of professional support for para‐teachers. The research participants were 12 para‐teachers and five management and administrative staff. Contextual factors included characteristics of para‐teachers, classrooms and students from under‐resourced settings; and the practices and policies found in a non‐school educational setting, here a non‐governmental organization. The study indicates that each factor has potentially enhancing and hindering effects which need to be taken into consideration when designing and implementing professional development work.     

The exchange rate susceptibility of European core industries, 1995–2010

This study investigates reactions to real exchange rate changes in the German, French and UK automobile and mechanical engineering sectors using monthly data from 1995 to 2010. Our findings indicate that EUR /US$ appreciations hamper exports, but do not necessarily imply an aggravated business climate or export order‐book assessment. This does not apply to the GBP /US$ and corresponding time series for the UK . First and foremost, our fixed coefficient and time‐varying parameter VAR model estimates confirm the extraordinary role of the German key sectors, while currency union membership seems to play a minor role at best. Overall, the exchange rate susceptibility is less profound than claimed by lobbies and held as popular belief.     

A model of government–industry–academic collaboration: mandatory bankruptcy counselling policy in Canada

This paper profiles the chronology of a productive and complex collaborative relationship between government, industry and academia (mainly home economists) that has existed since late 1992 around the policy issue of mandatory bankruptcy counselling in Canada. Changes to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) in 1992 mandated counselling for bankrupts. A 1994 National Counselling Directive Working Group evaluated the impact of this legislation leading to the establishment of a 1995 Qualifications of Counsellors Task Force charged with developing a blueprint for use with the 1996 development and delivery of a course of study for insolvency counselling. Those completing the course will be the first roster of names in a national registry of qualified BIA counsellors in 1997. This paper attempts to capture the dynamics of managing and respecting the interconnections between stakeholders within the constraints of their political and economic realities.     

浅谈财务治理在企业发展中的核心作用

财务治理作为企业管理的重要组成部分,对晋升企业价值起着越来越重要的作用.在市场经济环境下,企业发展的各种风险因素都集中体现在企业财务上,所以加强企业财务治理,更好地发挥财务治理在企业发展中的鼓励作用,对企业长期稳定发展是非常必要的.     

CSR development in post‐communist economies: employees' expectations regarding corporate socially responsible behaviour – the case of Romania

Drawing on stakeholder theory and the evolutionary approach to institutions, this paper investigates the channels through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is developed in post‐communist economies by focusing on the employee background factors that shape the employees' expectations with regard to corporate socially responsible behaviour. We identify three channels through which exogenous and endogenous CSR are developed: employees with work experience in multinational enterprises (MNEs) (leading to exogenous CSR), employees with CSR knowledge (leading to exogenous CSR) and employees with experience of the socialist system (leading to endogenous CSR). Furthermore, we argue that the interactions between these channels lead to hybrid CSR in transition economies. We use a questionnaire‐based survey with employees of domestic and MNEs in Romania and we conduct regression analysis. We find that employees with work experience in MNEs act as channels for exogenous CSR, while employees with experience of the socialist system act as channels for endogenous CSR. Furthermore, employees with experience of the socialist system and CSR knowledge or work experience in an MNE act as channels for hybrid CSR in transition economies. Based on our results, we put forward implications for theory, managers and policy makers.     

Chinese venture investments in the United States, 2010–2017

This article contributes to the understanding of Chinese venture investors in the United States by comprehensively measuring the amount and type of venture investments coming to the United States from China. Venture activity is examined by focusing on the number of investments made by venture capital funds, both U.S.‐ and China‐based that include Chinese corporations undertaking corporate venture capital (CVC). Chinese participation in venture funding of United States emerging companies increased from 21 investments in 2010 to 407 in 2016 and 2017. Venture capital funds account for 78% of the investment activity, with Chinese CVC undertaking 22% of the investments. We contribute to the literature of CVC by providing definitions of three specific types of investing firms: corporate funds, strategic investors, and strategic partnerships. In addition, we provide data and examine the motivations of Chinese firms forming strategic partnerships with United States startups.     

Trends in Food Attitudes and Behaviors Among Adults with 6–11‐Year‐Old Children

This study presents an analysis of survey data measuring food attitudes and behaviors among a nationally representative sample of adults with 6–11‐year‐old children for 2002–2010 from Experian Simmons Market Research. Results show numerous significantly positive improvements in attitudes and behaviors regarding healthier diets. In general, parents report increasing fiber intake, thinking about calories, and reducing sweets consumption as well as a generic effort to eat healthier. However, some areas still needing improvement include relatively neutral views that their diet is “very healthy” and that they only snack on healthy foods. While there are a number of improvements in parents' attitudes and behaviors regarding a healthy diet, the majority of the ground gained was early, from 2002 to between 2003 and 2006. This study's results suggest that a better understanding of the parental “snacking mindset” and indulgence‐healthy diet paradox might further assist in addressing childhood obesity.     

The moderating role of self‐efficacy in the organizational culture–training transfer relationship

This paper aims to examine the combined effects of self‐efficacy and organizational culture on employees' transfer of knowledge/skills acquired through training. The questionnaires were distributed to 252 newly hired employees working in a service organization in Greece. Each of the independent variables examined added incrementally to the prediction of training transfer. Moreover, self‐efficacy was found to act as a moderator in the organizational culture–training transfer relationship. High self‐efficacy was found to strengthen both achievement culture–training transfer as well as humanistic culture‐training transfer relationships, whereas low self‐efficacy weakened these relationships. The study has practical implications by providing insights into ways of engaging employees in transferring the skills acquired during training. This investigation extends previous research by demonstrating that self‐efficacy acts as an accentuating factor in the relationship between organizational culture orientations and new hires' transfer of training.     

The development of international business in Africa (1947–1997)

The genesis of international business in Africa from 1947 to 1996 is traced to colonial times. The article analyzes the dynamics and observes that international business in Africa witnessed growth but has not meaningfully influenced Africa's general economic development because of constraints: poor infrastructure, lack of maintenance culture, inadequate funding, debt burden and overemphasis on export of raw materials instead of manufactured goods. The article suggests placing a greater emphasis on the development of intermediate and capital goods industries and granting debt relief to all African countries as a means of further promoting international business entente in Africa.     

Understanding the role of retail store service in light of self‐image–store image congruence

The relationships among a consumer's service experience, the servicescape, and perceived value for the money spent on the service are important theoretical as well as practical issues. Little effort has, however, been devoted to understanding these in the context of the effects of consumer image–store image congruency. Image congruency has not only been shown to be valuable in relation to product choices, but has also been shown to contribute to our understanding of retail store choice and preferences. This study examines the effect of retailer service provision and the retail store environment (servicescape) on the customers' perception of value for money. The study also examines the role of self–store image congruence in the above relationships. The findings confirm the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model (except for servicescape effects). The findings also indicate that the effects are stronger for those individuals experiencing high self–store image congruence. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Assessing the Impacts of US‐Japan Bilateral Trade Agreements, 1980–1995

The paper presents three different viewpoints on the effects of US‐Japan bilateral trade agreements and finds some evidence to support each one using trade data from 1980–1995. For most of the 25 industry‐agreement cases, the data do not support a conclusion of significant positive impacts of the agreements on Japan's imports of targeted manufactured products from either the US or non‐US sources. In at least one high‐profile case involving autos, I find evidence suggesting positive impacts on imports from the US, but in this case the data suggests trade diversion benefiting US0based producers at the expense of European ones. I also find a few cases where the agreements may have produced positive effects on Japan's imports from non‐US sources.     

A Compendium of Multi‐Item Scales Utilized in Logistics Research (2001–10): Progress Achieved Since Publication of the 1973–2000 Compendium

Forty years have passed since the first multi‐item measurement scales were employed through survey research to better understand important logistics concepts. Through the years, four leading logistics journals have published research containing a total of 1,670 scales within 283 articles. A 42% increase in utilization has occurred during the most recent decade. The research fully discloses the conceptualization, composition, and properties of the multi‐item survey scales utilized in the study of logistics and supply chain management theory and practice. By documenting each scale published from 2001 to 2010, the authors make comparisons with results from the 1973–2000 study. Primary findings indicate an increase in the percentage of research utilizing multi‐item scales, and an increase in the application of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has assisted in producing more highly acceptable psychometric properties of the scales. This implies that researchers are utilizing more highly developed scales and following strict scale‐development procedures for building more robust scales to measure concepts important for advancing our knowledge of logistics and supply chain management. The top four conceptual categories for the scales have remained the same since 1973 and account for greater than half of the scales published. Eight additions to the categories since 2001 pertain greatly to controlling our supply chains for customer, brand, and overall security benefits. The compendium of scales provides a central document to reference as researchers seek to employ highly developed survey measures.     

Exploring the role of goal theory in understanding training motivation

A model to test conceptions from goal theory within an existing framework of training motivation was developed and tested with employees participating in training in a non‐profit organization. It was hypothesized that goal orientation ('distal factors’) along with self‐efficacy, expectancy and valence (‘proximal factors’) would predict goal intentions as well as training outcomes such as affective responses to training, perceptions of training utility and intention to transfer or use the training provided. Results revealed that goal orientation predicted a significant proportion of variance in the proximal antecedents (valence (33 per cent), expectancy (39 per cent) and self‐efficacy (31 per cent)) whereas the proximal antecedents explained 43 per cent of the variance in goal intentions. In turn, goal intentions were related to training outcomes (affect (b = 0.7), utility (b = 0.6) and transfer intention (b = 0.5)). Goal intentions mediated the relationship between proximal antecedents and training outcomes, providing evidence that goal intentions play a pivotal role in the causal path from proximal factors to training outcomes. Valence alone was found to be a significant mediator of the relationship between goal orientation and goal intentions.     

Bridging the intention–behavior gap among organic grocery customers: The crucial role of point‐of‐sale information

Although the interest in organic groceries has increased, actual buying behavior falls short for reasons that are mostly unknown to researchers and practitioners. This paper addresses this so‐called intention–behavior gap by investigating the impact of point‐of‐sale (POS) information on the perception of purchase barriers and behavior. While behavior and interest differ for various product categories, the organic groceries most frequently bought worldwide are differentiated on the basis of product category involvement in a pilot study. A laboratory experiment and a field experiment containing actual purchase behavior and market data revealed the possibility of enhancing organic purchases within low‐ and high‐involvement categories, while exposed to POS information. In low‐involvement product categories, POS information should reveal new product category‐specific organic features. In high‐involvement product categories, the perceived addition of value for money is crucial for purchasing organic groceries. While the effect of POS information on perceived trust and knowledge is higher for health conscious or green consumers in low‐involvement product categories, it is the converse in high‐involvement product categories.