Social support and turnover among entry-level service employees: Differentiating type,source, and basis of attachment

Previous research on social support and turnover has yielded mixed results. To advance research in a more comprehensive manner, the present study examined how turnover is influenced by type of support (emotional or instrumental), source of support (coworker or supervisor), and basis of attachment (affective commitment and constituent attachment as mediators). In the context of entry-level service employees, these relationships were examined with a sample of restaurant servers company-wide from a casual dining restaurant chain in the USA. Coworker emotional support was directly and negatively related to turnover, and coworker instrumental support was directly and positively related to turnover. Furthermore, supervisor emotional support and instrumental support were indirectly related to turnover through affective commitment. When the mediators were considered independently, coworker and supervisor emotional support were both indirectly related to turnover through constituent attachment.     

Bundling and quality assurance

With imperfect private monitoring, a firm selling two experience goods can increase both producer and consumer surplus by bundling. Bundling constrains consumers to buy two products, making consumers better informed and ensuring that they use tougher punishment strategies. Both increased monitoring and increased punishment benefit other consumers, so bundling overcomes a free‐rider problem. The social value of bundling is even larger if consumers cannot attribute a negative signal to the specific product that generated it, or if one of the two goods is a durable and the other is a complementary nondurable. Our results are robust to mixed bundling.     

Insiders’ perspectives of the effects of recent regulation on corporate taxation

Recent legislation and standard interpretations promulgated by governmental bodies and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have attempted to address several issues related to corporate taxation. These issues include the lack of transparency regarding specific tax transactions, the difficulty in reconciling the corporate tax return with the corporate income statement, the relative lack of disclosure of tax contingencies in the financial statements, and the impact of internal control on the reliability of the corporate tax return. While the stated objectives of several recent regulations have included improvements in the areas of corporate tax compliance and transparency of financial statements, it is unclear whether these regulations have resulted in the desired effects. This study analyzes the perceptions of 223 corporate tax executives regarding the effects of Internal Revenue Announcement 2002-63, Schedule M-3 of IRS Form 1120, FASB Interpretation Number 48 (FIN 48), and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The findings indicate that the respondents perceive an overall increase in tax return transparency and corporate tax compliance as a result of Schedule M-3 and FIN 48; yet the ability of corporations to engage in tax planning has decreased as a result of FIN 48. The respondents also perceive that both FIN 48 and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have increased their reliance on outside sources for tax compliance work.     

Insider econometrics: A roadmap with stops along the way

For the past twenty five years, economists have been building theories of the optimal management of firms. For example, economic models suggest that under some conditions, piece rate pay raises performance, and under other conditions, promotions tournaments raise performance. Some of these theories have been tested, others have not. Economists are now using new empirical research tools, that we label “insider econometrics,” to test the impact of management practices on productivity: to model how much productivity changes; to model why management practices raise productivity; and to examine which firms benefit and why from alternative management practices. The methodology we describe is “insider” because it uses inside knowledge and data from within firms. It is “econometrics” because the methodology is often the application of treatment effects methods to modeling changing management practices within firms. However, the methods and challenges of insider econometrics are unique, and we identify several key features that are important in undertaking empirical studies of workers' productivity. Now that more firms are keeping data on employees, it is time to improve our analysis of the empirical study of the productivity of workers within firms.     

The internationalisation of HRM through reverse transfer: two case studies of French multinationals in Scotland

Building on existing studies of reverse transfer (RT) of HRM and work organisation practices, this article reports on an investigation of reverse transfer of HR practices within two French multinational companies operating in Scotland. The study identifies limited evidence of RT despite the firms' predisposing characteristics for RT. A number of factors inherent within the French national business system were found to create restrictions. In addition, France's history of fostering national champions presented resistance to the transfer of localised HR ideas to the domestic economy. Finally, and to a lesser degree, market relations within one of the subsidiary's locality were found to impede the RT of practices. The article discusses the theoretical implications for the conditions under which reverse transfer takes place.     

Utilization of health services by the injured residents in Kumasi, Ghana

The objective was to determine the pattern of health service utilization by the injured in Kumasi, Ghana and thus to gain information useful for the strengthening of trauma care in that environment. A household survey was utilized as it was anticipated that many injured might not receive formal medical care and a total of 11,663 persons living in 264 clusters in Kumasi were surveyed. One-third of all injured did not receive any formal medical care, mainly due to financial constraints. Altogether, 37% of the injured attended a hospital and 34% attended a clinic. Among the severely injured (> or =1 month disability) attending a clinic, most (76%) used it as the sole source of care. Most (54%) of these clinics were private. Efforts to strengthen trauma care in urban Africa need to address financial barriers to care and need to consider clinics, as well as the main hospitals.     

Shared Value Through Inner Knowledge Creation

The notion of shared value presents business with a challenge: to generate social benefit and profit simultaneously. This challenge involves resolving tensions/paradoxes inherent when integrating the apparent contradictory elements of social and economic values. Unfortunately, resolving such tensions is difficult due to the habitual, automatic nature of sensemaking. This paper offers a mechanism whereby individuals can, over time, begin to overcome habitual sensemaking and potentially resolve tensions inherent in shared value. The mechanism is labeled inner knowledge creation (IKC). IKC is described and its role in creating shared value for businesses is illustrated through a conceptual model. The model shows how IKC develops metacognitive capabilities, builds capacities to resolve tensions/paradoxes, and cultivates openness to others’ perspectives.     

Metropolitan Strategies and Climate Governance: Towards New Evaluative Approaches

In the new millennium, cities have become an emerging force among new forms of subnational climate governance. Of interest is how cities act unilaterally and directly in this new climate politics via the provision of relevant tools. Since metropolitan planning strategies have been considered as important mechanisms for achieving urban sustainability in this period, this research has sought to investigate the importance of these master plans in the delivery of urban responses to climate change. For this purpose, the study has employed a qualitative research methodology with the application of a comparative case study and the progression of a conceptual framework for evaluating climate policies in metropolitan plans of two selected cities—London and Melbourne. The study's results suggest that both the ‘London Plan’ and ‘Plan Melbourne’ incorporate critical elements to enhance climate governance, including the promotion of coordination principles, innovative technologies, a participatory planning approach and a long‐term planning scale. However, the review identified a consistent omission of key principles as identified through the proposed matrix for analysing the climate policies of a city's government, which include risk assessment tools, monitoring systems, distribution, impact frame and accountability. Moreover, the research also revealed the lack of vertical integration in policy formulation and implementation of ‘Plan Melbourne’. Our study suggests that a city's governance structure influences the way it undertakes its climate actions and the potential efficacy of these on a metropolitan scale.