Learning to manage: development experiences of hospital frontline managers

In high performing human resource management (HRM) systems, much responsibility for managing employees and associated processes is typically devolved to frontline managers (FLMs). Research indicates that undeveloped FLM HRM ability can impact performance, particularly in health‐care organisations. We present the incidence and characteristics of HRM‐oriented learning and development programs for FLMs in hospitals with high performing systems of HRM, and experiences of FLMs directly participating in them. We combine data from 50 Australian hospital accreditation reports with interviews from eight ‘high performance HRM’ cases. We find: almost all high performers develop FLM HRM ability; development programs are extremely diverse between hospitals and succession planning is deficient. While primarily focused on understanding ability, the study contributes to the ability, motivation, opportunity framework, proposing a model and new interrelationships between these variables in the FLM context.     

Legitimation of New Ventures: A Review and Research Programme

Research on how new ventures (NVs) achieve legitimacy is fragmented and rests on taken‐for‐granted assumptions that require problematization. Following a systematic literature review, I identify five distinct perspectives on NV legitimation: an institutional perspective, a cultural entrepreneurship perspective, an ecological perspective, an impression management perspective, and a social movement perspective. After comparing and contrasting these perspectives, I synthesize them into a generative and integrative typology. Based on this typology, I develop a new research programme. The programme widens the extant scholarship agenda by challenging its shared assumptions and contributes to further integration of the literature by building bridges between perspectives.     

Decaf or double shot? The strength of franchisor control over HRM in coffee franchises

The franchise relationship presents a unique composition of autonomy and control. Franchisee autonomy is located somewhere between employed managers and independent business owners, while the franchisor regulates core processes such as marketing and product development. While heavy franchisor control over certain functions is customary and in fact integral to the franchise model, the delineation of HRM responsibilities in the franchise relationship is less clear. Using qualitative data from three Australian coffee chains, we examine the role of the corporate HR and the degree to which HRM activities are centralised, and develop a typology of franchisor HRM control. We find substantial variation between cases and demonstrate that it is the franchisor's strategic decision to prioritise brand protection or liability avoidance that ultimately determines whether their control over HRM can be described as ‘decaf’ weak or ‘double shot’ strength.     

“Burden of Debt” in HIPC Countries in the Light of Current Account Statistics

For many years, debt relief has been a prominent theme in public debate. Supporters of debt relief argue that debt service drains the resources of needy countries – resources which could be employed in such important areas as infrastructure, education and medical treatment. The question, however, whether foreign debt does, indeed, lead to a draining of resources is hardly ever addressed.     

Why is Austria’s Pension System So Much Better Than Germany’s?

The pension systems in both Germany and Austria have undergone substantial reforms, though only one of the countries appears to have had success. Average earners in Austria will receive gross pensions equivalent to 78.1% of their average earnings, whereas in Germany they will receive just 37.5%. The authors argue that Germany has been left with a system that has abandoned the goal of protecting people's standard of living.     

Der deutsche Kündigungsschutz — die Perspektive der Personalverantwortlichen

In Deutschland werden der Kündigungsschutz und das Kündigungsschutzgesetz in der ?ffentlichen wie der wissenschaftlichen Debatte1 kontrovers diskutiert. Obwohl sich viele für eine Liberalisierung aussprechen, lassen sich (negative) Besch?ftigungseffekte des deutschen Kündigungsschutzes auf gesamtwirtschaftlicher Ebene kaum nachweisen. Die vorliegende Analyse basiert auf umfassenden Befragungen von Personalverantwortlichen. Sie zeigt, dass sich durch einzelne arbeitsrechtliche ?nderungen wohl kaum erhebliche Besch?ftigungseffekte erzielen lassen.     

Product liability and the virtues of asymmetric information

This paper analyzes a two-period setup in which firms differ with respect to costs of care and may use care-taking to signal type to consumers, who are able to observe precaution taken only ex post. Applying the refinement of the intuitive criterion to the concept of the perfect Bayesian equilibrium, we establish a unique separating equilibrium for every share of harm borne by firms. For low levels of victim compensation, we show that (i) firms choose weakly higher care in a setting in which customers do not know the firms’ type than in a setting in which they do, and (ii) the deviation in precaution taken due to asymmetric information on firm type is welfare-improving.