Constructing HR information systems

Accounts of human resource information systems (HRISs) range from predominantly technical accounts, which assume that the data contained and the way it is organised are straightforward reflections of reality, to accounts which see such systems as a way of exercising disciplinary power through the creation of a new view of the organisation. These different conceptions are explored through an investigation of three organisations which were developing information systems relating to workforce skills and workplace requirements. The article focuses on different conceptualisations of skill and their significance for approaches to HR strategy. It is also concerned with the way in which managers develop and refine such information systems, and the analogy of mapping is examined as a way of understanding this process.     

Monitoring technical change and employment

In October 1981 the UK Manpower Services Commission approached the Technology Policy Unit of the University of Aston with the idea of establishing a ‘technology monitor’ to research into the introduction of new technology and its implications on employment and skills. The monitor was to look at specific short-term changes (over five to ten years) in employment levels and patterns that would be of relevance to policy makers in the manpower field. The author, who has led this research, describes the setting up of the monitor, its major aims and possible future developments.     

Clerical workers and information technology: gender relations and occupational change

A questionnaire and interview study of women office workers in the West Midlands, who had recently experienced technical change, is used to examine their perceptions both of changes in their jobs and of the implementation process. The consequences for women's opportunities are discussed.     

Kids Cause Specialization: Evidence for Becker’s Household Division of Labor Hypothesis

We examine the division of labor within households and marital matching patterns in the USA using both the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). We use Becker’s theory of marriage markets by estimating household production functions and using the estimates to test for positive or negative assortive matching. We also construct match matrices, which are used to judge how well our model fits Becker’s theory. We find positive assortative matching on all traits in young marriages and couples without children, and negative assortment along some traits in marriages with children. This suggests that children induce specialization whereas couples without children exploit household public goods.

Evaluations of branding alliances between non‐profit and commercial brand partners: the transfer of affect

• There is growing interest in the trend towards co‐branding alliances between non‐profit and commercial entities,which are undertaken by these organisations to transfer associations and affect between each brand partner. Certainly, it makes sense that commercial entities want to gain more from their brands and that non‐profits want secured funding, however, in the same way that the joining of two brands can be beneficial, it can also bring with it major risks when the brand alliance is not well received and evaluations of the alliance are not favourable.
• This research supports the notion that both commercial entities and non‐profit organisations can benefit from a branding alliance, however, an understanding of how these brand alliances are evaluated is important. This research investigates evaluations of brand alliances and the resulting spillover effects for original brand partners that result from brand alliances.
• This research provides empirical support relating to reactions to brand alliances between a non‐profit organisation and a commercial business in terms of how original brand attitudes, familiarity of original brands and perceived brand fit impact on evaluations. While collaboration is important and has potential benefits for each partner—they rest on partner selection and fit between alliance partners. Managerial implications and future research directions are also provided.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

International entrepreneurship in universities: Context,emergence and actors

This special issue presents an opportunity to explore the international aspects of academic and university based international entrepreneurship. Over the last decades much research attention has been focused on university spin-off firms (USOs) on issues such as, creation, risk, strategies and performance (see Druilhe and Garnsey, 2004; Link and Scott, 2005; Lockett and Wright, 2005; Walter et al, 2006; Wright et al., 2006). There has been a dearth of studies that have examined the international dimensions and aspects of university-based spin-off firms. The six articles presented in this special issue point towards interesting future research agendas at the interface between academic and international entrepreneurship. Three core themes emerge from this special issue: Context, Emergence and Actors. In sum, this special issue pinpoints: firstly, specific features of universities and research organizations as contexts for international technology entrepreneurship; secondly, the process of organizational emergence and entrepreneurial cognition; and thirdly, insight into learning processes of USOs and the role of non-academic actors. Our article concludes by identifying future avenues of research.     

From scratch to efficiency gains after a financial crisis? A tale of a restructured banking system

We study the efficiency of the Argentine banking system after the 2001–2002 crisis. The financial system had to be restructured from scratch and recovered jointly with the economy, but its productivity and average cost levels have been stagnant since 2007. The analysis includes efficiency frontier estimations for retail banks and a comparison of subsamples for different categories of banks for the period 2005–15. We try to determine whether public banks are more efficient than private ones, whether privatized are more efficient than always private, as well as national versus foreign entities. Our findings show a modest average efficiency of the system and quite similar efficiency rankings for the different groups of banks. On average, public tend to be slightly more cost efficient than private, and national are slightly more efficient than foreign.     

A Discriminatory Mechanism to Reduce Urban Congestion

In this article, we propose an optimal mechanism to reduce congestion when information is asymmetric. Each car driver receives a quantity of traffic rights such that his adjusted marginal benefit is equal to the marginal cost of congestion and payments are based on willingness to pay. We show that the level of congestion achieved is lower and each car user can receive more or fewer rights than under complete information. With symmetric beliefs, the payment rule results from a second‐degree price discrimination. When beliefs are asymmetric, it results simultaneously from a second‐degree price discrimination and from a third‐degree price discrimination and high willingness‐to‐pay car users are discriminated against. The revenue raised can be used to reduce distortionary taxes, thereby gaining public acceptability.     

A sampled literature review of design-based learning approaches: a search for key characteristics

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach grounded in the processes of inquiry and reasoning towards generating innovative artifacts, systems and solutions. The approach is well characterized in the context of learning natural sciences in secondary education. Less is known, however, of its characteristics in the context of higher engineering education. The purpose of this review study is to identify key characteristics of DBL in higher engineering education. From the tenets of engineering design practices and higher engineering education contexts we identified four relevant dimensions for organizing these characteristics: the project characteristics, the role of the teacher, the assessment methods, and the social context. Drawing on these four dimensions, we systematically reviewed the state-of-the-art empirical literature on DBL or DBL-like educational projects in higher engineering education. Based on this review we conclude that DBL projects consist of open-ended, hands-on, authentic and multidisciplinary design tasks resembling the community of engineering professionals. Teachers facilitate both the process of gaining domain-specific knowledge and the thinking activities relevant to propose innovative solutions. Teachers scaffold students in the development from novice to expert engineers. Assessment is characterized by formative and summative of both individual and team products and processes and by the use of a variety of assessment instruments. Finally, the social context of DBL projects includes peer-to-peer collaboration in which students work in teams. The implications of these findings for further research on DBL in higher engineering education are discussed.     

The price-to-rent ratio: A macroprudential application

We examine the potential for the price-to-rent ratio to be used as a macroprudential tool. In addition to using standardized appraisal methods, appraisers could estimate the current market rent for a property. The resulting price-to-rent ratio would provide a useful signal for speculative pressures. We show this by estimating price-to-rent ratios using the American Housing Survey. The distribution of price-to-rent ratios shifted up dramatically during the housing boom with the 75th and 95th percentile reaching a historic peak in 2006 at 22 and 44, respectively. We propose a lending policy that incorporates the price-to-rent ratio to generate countercyclical loan-to-value ratios.