Union Organizing as a Mobilizing Strategy: The Impact of Social Identity and Transformational Leadership on the Collectivism of Union Members

This article investigates the effect of union organizing as a mobilizing strategy on the collectivism of union members. We examine the impact of a worker's social identification with fellow members and the transformational leadership qualities of the local union representative. We employ regression analysis with tests of mediation to analyse the survey responses of c. 1,000 rank and file members of a major professional union, collected in July 2004 during a mobilization campaign. Social identification and transformational leadership were associated with members' union loyalty and willingness to work for the union. Social identification acted as a mediating variable in both cases.     

Intolerable nuisances: some laboratory evidence on survivor curve shapes

The fraction of a user population willing to tolerate nuisances of size x is summarized in the survivor curve S(x); its shape is crucial in economic decisions such as pricing and advertising. We report a laboratory experiment that, for the first time, estimates the shape of survivor curves in several different settings. Laboratory subjects engage in a series of six desirable activities, e.g., playing a video game, viewing a chosen video clip, or earning money by answering questions. For each activity and each subject we introduce a chosen level \(x \in [x_{\min }, x_{\max }]\) of a particular nuisance, and the subject chooses whether to tolerate the nuisance or to switch to a bland activity for the remaining time. New non-parametric techniques provide bounds on the empirical survivor curves for each activity. Parametric fits of the classic Weibull distribution provide estimates of the survivor curves’ shapes. The fitted shape parameter depends on the activity and nuisance, but overall the estimated survivor curves tend to be log-convex. An implication, given the model of Aperjis and Huberman (SSRN, doi:  10.2139/ssrn.1672820, 2011), is that introducing nuisances all at once will generally be more profitable than introducing them gradually.     

The influence of relation-based and rule-based regulations on hiring decisions in the Australian and Hong Kong Chinese cultural contexts

Investigation of the cultural factors that may influence the employment decisions of managers is of increasing importance in the global business environment. The purpose of this research is to examine whether particularistic ties based on friendship influence hiring practices in relation-based (Hong Kong Chinese) and rule-based (Australian) cultural contexts. Three studies were conducted to examine this research question. Results indicate that friendship-based particularistic ties, specifically guanxi and mateship, can influence hiring decisions in both relation- and rule-based cultural contexts. The results of the studies have implications for human resource managers with regards to staffing organizations operating in different cultural contexts.     

Leading global teams

Global teams that are characterized by national, cultural and linguistic heterogeneity and operate in a globally dispersed virtual environment are becoming an established form of organizing work in multinational organizations. As global team leadership research is rather limited, we review the literature on leading multicultural and virtual teams in a global context, focusing on leadership competencies, styles, strategies and modes. We also examine the emergent concepts of biculturalism, global mindset and cultural intelligence with respect to team leaders. Our aim is to add to our knowledge of leading global teams, highlight recent trends and suggest directions for future research. Three themes for global team leadership emerged: leaders as boundary spanners, bridge makers and blenders; people-oriented leadership; and leveraging diversity. We discuss implications for research and practice.     

Trust as a mediator of the relationship between leader/member behavior and leader-member-exchange quality

We examined how and why trust between a subordinate and supervisor develops over time from the separate perspectives and experiences of both dyad partners. Integrating the literatures on trust, leader-member-exchange (LMX) and promotion regulatory focus (PRF), we test our model using longitudinal data from a Malaysian subsidiary of a U.S. headquartered corporation. Subordinate's trust in supervisor mediated between supervisor's PRF and subordinate's experience of LMX quality; supervisor's trust in subordinate mediated between subordinate's job performance and leader's experience of LMX quality. Findings are interpreted within the high power-distance, high collectivist, and high performance orientation of Malaysian culture.     

Training for business start-up in Scotland — the gender dimension

This paper looks at two examples of business start-up training in Scotland which have specifically targeted women, both younger women entering the labour market for the first time and older women who are either unemployed or returning to the labour market after raising a family. We argue that women face a double disadvantage in trying to start up and run their own business. Traditionally women have not been seen as business owners and are under represented in the small business sector. Secondly women perform a dual role in that they are almost always responsible for domestic and family concerns, whether they are economically active or not. We recognise that “gender constraints” exist and discuss the training programmes we have developed which in their style, content and timing set out to meet the special needs of women contemplating self employment.     

谁是北岩银行的“救命稻草”

北岩银行年初还因金融创新受到英国金融当局的褒奖，谁成想，仅仅9个月过后北岩银行的高管就沦落到人人指责的境地。     

Risk Premia in Foreign Currency Futures

This paper tests the uncorrelatedness of increments of daily foreign currency futures prices and derives implications for risk premia based on a heteroscedasticity-robust variance ratio test. There is evidence suggesting the existence of a time-varying risk premia. Moreover, the results suggest that currency futures price is not an unbiased predictor of currency spot price on corresponding maturity date of currency futures contract. The paper also applies a heteroscedasticity-adjusted Box-Pierce Q test to the same data set for comparison.