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Vertr?ge richtig gestalten – Zahlreiche Vertragsklauseln in Pflegevertr?gen wurden nach Klagen des Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverbands gerichtlich für unwirksam erkl?rt. Pflegeanbieter, die sich davor schützen wollen, sollten ihre Pflegevertr?ge auf den Prüfstand stellen. Auf welche Punkte kommt es dabei besonders an?     

Representative voice in different organizational contexts: a study of 40 departments of a Dutch childcare organization

‘Representative voice’ can be defined as actions in which one or more speakers represent others when speaking up about a problem at the workplace or making a suggestion. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of representative voice, assess the frequency of its occurrence and examine department characteristics associated with its frequency. We present a theoretical framework and develop and test hypotheses about the effects of characteristics of the departmental context on the frequency of representative voice. Our focus is on organizational design features, i.e. characteristics that can be directly implemented by management. Data on 40 departments of a large Dutch childcare organization suggested that representative voice occurred in most of the organization's departments, although not frequently. Multilevel analyses showed that representative voice was best predicted by the presence of shared problems. Further, representative voice was more frequent in departments in which employees worked directly with clients (i.e. children), and in larger departments. Frequent contact with the department's manager and among the department's employees had no effect.     

Applying the door-in-the-face compliance technique to retailing

The door-in-the-face (DITF) approach, a sequential compliance technique in which a large request is followed by a more moderate request, has been shown to increase compliance in a variety of non-business situations. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the DITF technique could also be used to increase sales in a retailing context. A field experiment outside an alpine hut was conducted. A total of 375 consumers participated in the experiment. As they passed by the entrance to the mountain hut, they were approached by an experimenter who invited them to buy some home-made cheese. In the experimental groups the DITF technique was used by the salesperson. The results show that the DITF technique can lead to a significant increase in the number of consumers making a purchase. Furthermore, it was found that this compliance technique is even more effective when it is used by a highly credible seller and when the seller points out that the more moderate request constitutes a concession. The large effect of the DITF intervention (the number of consumers making a purchase increased 15 to 40 percentage points over the control group) suggests that this technique could be used successfully in retailing.     

Does North-South horizontal intra-industry trade really exist? An analysis of the toy industry

Does North-South Horizontal Intra-Industry Trade Really Exist? An Analysis of the Toy Industry. — In a combination of a case study approach and econometric analysis, bilateral intra-industry trade between high income countries and low income countries in the toy industry is investigated. In a number of products there is important bilateral intra-industry trade between both groups of countries. Econometric analysis in which a number of the explanatory variables used were quantified on the basis of the information supplied by the industry-spokesmen yields results which strongly support the view that the bilateral IIT between the high income countries and the low income countries in the toy industry is determined significantly by horizontal product differentiation and economies of scale.     

A note on the space of preference relations

The space of irreflexive, transitive, and continuous binary relations of R^l endowed with the topology of closed convergence, and subsets of defined by various other properties of the relations are investigated. It is shown that the subsets defined by properties, which one often assumes in general equilibrium theory, have nice topological properties such as compactness or G₈-ness.     

Das Paradox der Medienwirkung auf Nichtnutzer

The article presents data from a secondary analysis of the project »Wählerwanderungen und Politikverdrossenheit« from 1994. The data allow to conduct time series analysis on a day-to-day basis. The focus is agenda setting in combination with a thesis formulated by Marcus Maurer — published in Publizistik 2004 — on the paradox of media effects on non-users. In contrast to Maurer, the paper is not concerned with the methodological but the theoretical paradox: Can there be such a thing as media effects on media non-users? The hypothetical effect is analyzed in comparison of daily and less than daily TV news users. The analyzed models confirm the agenda-setting effect: The media agenda affects the public agenda at later points in time, but the public agenda does not have effects on the later media agenda. In addition, there are indirect effects on people who seldom use TV news. As they do not watch every day, there is no direct immediate effect of the media input on them. But there is a significant effect some days later, which we interprete as a consequence of conversation. The effect of the media on the daily users is passed on to less frequent users by interpersonal communication.     

Strategies as Discursive Constructions: The Case of Airline Alliances

ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that by examining the discursive elements in strategy talk we can contribute to our understanding of the myriad of micro‐processes and practices that make up strategies. We focus on airline alliances as a particularly illustrative case. Based on a critical discourse analysis of an extensive material of strategy talk on airline alliances, we point to five types of discursive practices that characterize strategizing in this context in 1995–2000: (1) problematization of traditional strategies; (2) rationalization, objectification and factualization of alliance benefits; (3) fixation of ambiguous independence concerns; (4) reframing of cooperation problems as ‘implementation’ issues; and (5) naturalization of alliance strategies. While we want to emphasize the context‐specificity of these practices, we claim that similar types of discursive practices are also likely to be an inherent part of strategizing in other settings.     

The 'Skill-oriented' Strategies of German Trade Unions: Their Impact on Efficiency and Equality Objectives

In the present debate about options for the modernization of trade unions, the predominant argument being propounded is that trade unions and workers' representatives at plant level should take more 'responsibility' for the competitiveness of the firms. Among other things, they are advised to enter into 'alliances' with management at the level of qualification politics. This paper considers some important collective bargaining arrangements which the German trade unions have negotiated over the last few years in order to improve mutually beneficial further training decisions within German firms. The emphasis is on the potential of different agreements for achieving efficiency and equality objectives in the context of contemporary changes in production and restructuring processes.     

Environmentally Sustainable Transport: Definition and Long-Term Economic Impacts for Austria

The transition to an environmentally sustainable transport system involves a combination of technological and demand-side transport policies. Regulatory, educational and economic instruments can be used to enhance the development of cleaner transport technologies as well as the shift from road-based towards more environmentally benign modes of transport. This article provides estimates of overall economic impacts in the long term and describes the required change in the transport system. The article proceeds in three steps. First, this article reviews concepts of sustainability and applies them to transportation. Second, a small open economy computable general equilibrium model for Austria is developed to evaluate the long-term macroeconomic and sectoral impacts of a sustainable freight transport policy. Third, simulation results are discussed and conclusions drawn concerning the crucial features of a sustainable freight transport policy.Although the required transition within the transport system is substantial, the economic costs in terms of GDP are comparably low and employment is likely to increase slightly.