The impact of proposals to develop the king's cross railway lands

If the British Rail proposal for the King's Cross Railway Lands is approved, the scheme will go ahead just as the latest round of local authority legislation begins to bite. By the time builders are on site, new laws and regulations governing the provision of housing, education, services, local authority finance and land use controls will all be in place. In this context, the King's Cross scheme will act as a great Trojan horse unleashing huge changes in a highly concentrated form on a community whose guardians have already been disarmed. This article describes some of the likely effects of this unequal contest —on the local authority involved (Section I) and on the surrounding local communities (Section II). It argues the need for other local authorities to rethink their conceptual and corporate approach to future large-scale planning applications well in advance of their arrival at the Town Hall.     

Human Resources Management Innovation

Guided by a general manager's perspective of human resources management (HRM), this paper identifies key factor affecting the introduction of HRM innovations in organizations. Because the essence of market and technological leadership is the development of the organizational capacity to carry out inventive ideas, it is critical to understand the main forces influencing HRM innovation. Following a definition of HRM innovation, six propositions are discussed using current and historical examples. Since HRM innovation also involves change in the social system of the organization, the adoption and diffusion of these innovations can be attributed not only to external environmental forces but also to social processes.     

Options in Valuing Equity Compensation Benefits

Arguments over whether to recognise or disclose equity compensation benefits (ECBs) have been so intense that the importance of the choice of measurement date has tended to be overlooked. To provide adequate coverage, an accounting standard needs not only to prescribe when ECBs are to be valued but also clearly identify from the options available how they are to be valued and what is to be included.     

At the heart of women in management research: Theoretical and methodological approaches and their biases

This paper examines the dominant theoretical approaches in the field of women in management (WIM) that have been applied to explain women's limited ability to assume organizational positions of significant power. The propositions of traditional (gender-centered and organization structure perspectives) and a newer theoretical perspective (gender-organization-system approach) are discussed. It is proposed that the theories embraced by WIM researchers bias the factors they examine, the methodologies they employ, the statistical techniques they apply, the results they obtain and the conclusions they reach. This is shown to be a particular problem with the gender-centered and organization structure perspectives and not the gender-organization-system approach. Ellen Fagenson is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University. She has published several articles and is a reviewer for a variety of journals. She is the Book Review Editor for the Academy of Management Executive and has served as Chair of the Women in Management Division of the Academy of Management.     

Contextual content analysis

This article suggests one way to systematically code textual data for research. The approach utilizes computer content analysis to examine patterns of emphasized ideas in text as well as the social context or underlying perspective reflected in the text. A conceptual dictionary is used to organize word meanings. An extensive profile of word meanings is used to characterize and discriminate social contexts. Social contexts are analyzed in relation to four reference dimensions (traditional, practical, emotional and analytic) which are used in the social science literature. The approach is illustrated with five widely varying texts, analyzed with selected comparative data. This approach has been useful in many social science investigations to system-atically score open-ended textual information. Scores can be incorporated into quantitative analysis with other data, used as a guide to qualitative studies, and to help integrate strengths of quantitative and qualitative approaches to research.     

Yugoslavia in the 1970's: Self-management and bargaining

Although the reforms embodied in Yugoslavia's 1974 Constitution have stabilized her political situation, the increased reliance on social plans and instruments does not appear to be producing a corresponding degree of economic stability. This article describes the new political and economic decision-making system in Yugoslavia and shows how its functioning has generated certain tensions between and among governmental and productive entities, tensions that have led to unintended and undesired economic consequences. It suggests that the root of the problem lies in the operation of the new system, not in a departure from its principles.     

International patent analysis as a tool for corporate technology analysis and planning

New, techniques of international patent anabsis are illustrated and resultsfrom preliminary validity tests of these techniques are presented. Indicators of technological activity, technological significance and commercial potential are constructed, and used to analyze fiber-based opto-electronic couplers and monoclonal-antibody-based diagnostic kits at the levels o f the technology, nation and firm. The international patent indicators are found to be closely correlated with R&D expenditures, scientific publications and new product introductions. They also relate to these indicators in ways that moke sense as specified in simple regression models of the innovation process. Comparisons of patent analysis results with expert opinion (for two process technologies) reveal that technology-level analyzes conform quite well with expert opinion, but national - and firm-level analyes vary from a low to a modest correlation with expert opinion. The authors conclude that the techniques can provide important information for corporate technology management, but that studies of additional technologies and further validity tests are needed.     

Anticipating the Future of Finnish Agrifood Sector by Using Alternative Research Methods

The goal of this study is to forecast the future of the Finnish agri-food sector for decision makers and interest groups in order to support the process of policy planning and decision making in a changing EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) combined with alterations in the global agricultural, trade, and climate policy. Two methods are utilized concurrently in this study—the quantitative method based on a computable general equilibrium model called the GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project) and the Delphi method based on panels of expert opinions. The quantitative “what if” GTAP modeling is used to forecast the Finnish agri-food sector until 2030, while the qualitative Delphi method with panels of experts is used to foresee the short- and long-term developments in the Finnish agri-food sector. The results from both methods can provide a more complete picture and comprehensive understanding of the future. The GTAP model projects that the relative competitiveness of Finnish milk, cereal, and meat production would decrease and weaken in the EU market as subsidies are being removed and the markets become open and liberated. The interviewed experts in the food supply chain confirm this projection by foreseeing a further decrease in the overall consumption of food that is produced domestically in Finland, and thus the profitability of Finnish farms would weaken and remain low. The results from both methods paint a pessimistic future for the Finnish agri-food sector in the event of trade liberalization and abolition of subsidies for agriculture.     

Analysing teacher knowledge for technology education in primary schools

Teacher knowledge guides a teacher’s behaviour in the classroom. Teacher knowledge for technology education is generally assumed to play an important role in affecting pupils’ learning in technology. There are an abundant number of teacher knowledge models that visualise different domains of teacher knowledge, but clear empirical evidence on how these domains interact is lacking. Insights into the interaction of teacher knowledge domains could be useful for teacher training. In this study, the hypothesised relations between different domains of teacher knowledge for technology education in primary schools were empirically investigated. Subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy were measured with tests and questionnaires. Results from a path analysis showed that subject matter knowledge is an important prerequisite for both pedagogical content knowledge and self-efficacy. Subsequently, teachers’ self-efficacy was found to have a strong influence on teachers’ attitude towards technology. Based on the findings in this study, it is recommended that teacher training should first of all focus on the development of teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. This knowledge will positively affect teachers’ confidence in teaching and, in turn, their attitude towards the subject. More confidence in technology teaching and a more positive attitude are expected to increase the frequency of technology education, which consequently increases teaching experience and thereby stimulates the development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. This circle of positive reinforcement will eventually contribute to the quality of technology education in primary schools.