Inkontinent durch Schwangerschaft

St?rungen der Beckenbodenfunktion - Das Thema bewegt viele Frauen. Und bei jeder Schwangerschaft wird die Frage nach dem Wunsch-Kaiserschnitt aufs Neue diskutiert. Doch wie gro? ist die Gefahr tats?chlich, durch eine Schwangerschaft und Geburt inkontinent zu werden. Und: Wozu k?nnten Sie Ihren Patientinnen raten?     

Running on the spot? A review of twenty years of research on the management of human resources in comparative and international perspective

Research using a comparative and international perspective on the management of human resources is examined, drawing on articles published in leading human resource management, management/organizational behaviour and related social science journals between 1977 and 1997. In total a little under 2 per cent of the articles under review focused on the management of human resources in a comparative and international perspective. The largest group of these articles was comparative in nature (44 per cent), followed by those with an international perspective (35 per cent). A smaller number adopted a combined approach (17 per cent) and a few were separately classified as foreign national studies (4 per cent). Over time, there has been some progress made in terms of the number of articles published and the scope of topics covered. However, many of the articles displayed similar shortcomings to those noted in earlier reviews of cross-national management/organization studies: in particular, an over-reliance on a small number of primarily Anglo-Saxon countries, a lack of a longitudinal perspective, a loose specification of culture, an ethnocentric bias and a frequent failure to explain observed differences and similarities.     

The Board's missing link

If a dam springs several leaks, there are various ways to respond. One could assiduously plug the holes, for instance. Or one could correct the underlying weaknesses, a more sensible approach. When it comes to corporate governance, for too long we have relied on the first approach. But the causes of many governance problems lie well below the surface--specifically, in critical relationships that are not structured to support the players involved. In other words, the very foundation of the system is flawed. And unless we correct the structural problems, surface changes are unlikely to have a lasting impact. When shareholders, management, and the board of directors work together as a system, they provide a powerful set of checks and balances. But the relationship between shareholders and directors is fraught with weaknesses, undermining the entire system's equilibrium. As the authors explain, the exchange of information between these two players is poor. Directors, though elected by shareholders to serve as their agents, aren't individually accountable to the investors. And shareholders--for a variety of reasons--have failed to exert much influence over boards. In the end, directors are left with the Herculean task of faithfully representing shareholders whose preferences are unclear, and shareholders have little say about who represents them and few mechanisms through which to create change. The authors suggest several ways to improve the relationship between shareholders and directors: Increase board accountability by recording individual directors' votes on key corporate resolutions; separate the positions of chairman and CEO; reinvigorate shareholders; and give boards funding to pay for outside experts who can provide perspective on crucial issues.     

The high cost of accurate knowledge

Many business thinkers believe it's the role of senior managers to scan the external environment to monitor contingencies and constraints, and to use that precise knowledge to modify the company's strategy and design. As these thinkers see it, managers need accurate and abundant information to carry out that role. According to that logic, it makes sense to invest heavily in systems for collecting and organizing competitive information. Another school of pundits contends that, since today's complex information often isn't precise anyway, it's not worth going overboard with such investments. In other words, it's not the accuracy and abundance of information that should matter most to top executives--rather, it's how that information is interpreted. After all, the role of senior managers isn't just to make decisions; it's to set direction and motivate others in the face of ambiguities and conflicting demands. Top executives must interpret information and communicate those interpretations--they must manage meaning more than they must manage information. So which of these competing views is the right one? Research conducted by academics Sutcliffe and Weber found that how accurate senior executives are about their competitive environments is indeed less important for strategy and corresponding organizational changes than the way in which they interpret information about their environments. Investments in shaping those interpretations, therefore, may create a more durable competitive advantage than investments in obtaining and organizing more information. And what kinds of interpretations are most closely linked with high performance? Their research suggests that high performers respond positively to opportunities, yet they aren't overconfident in their abilities to take advantage of those opportunities.     

Intercultural Competency Development in Conjunction With a Short Term Study Away Experience： Changes in Undergraduate Students

The purpose of this research was to examine whether undergraduate business students who participated in a short term study abroad course and intercultural competence building coursework demonstrated a significant increase in intercultural competence over those who only enrolled in the study abroad course. The 20 participants attended a small liberal arts College in Midwestern United States. The Intercultural Development Inventory （IDI） was administered to the participating students before and after their study away experience. The IDI （v.3） is based on the theoretical framework of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity （DMIS） introduced by Milton Bennett. The DMIS is based on the assumption that intercultural competence can be strengthen through the development of intercultural knowledge and experience with people from other cultures. The IDI has been used in numerous scholarly studies and has demonstrated valid and reliable results. It is a self-administered 50-item series of statements in which participants are asked to rate the level of their agreement with statements that address their relationship to and evaluation of cultural difference. In the model, people progress in a linear developmental fashion through six stages： defense, denial, polarization, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation. This study was designed to determine if students who studied away and completed intercultural coursework （prior intercultural knowledge and an intercultural experience） would increase their level of intercultural competency more than those students who just studied away （intercultural experience only） as measured by the change in their IDI scores. The results of this small sample show that intercultural coursework in conjunction with a short term study away experience can have a positive impact on individual intercultural development.     

Prospects for Personalization on the Internet

Personalization is a key component of an interactive marketing strategy. Its purpose is to adapt a standardized product or service to an individual customer's needs. The goal is to create profit for the producer and increased value for the consumer. This goal fits nicely into traditional notions of segmentation. Applications of personalization have advanced greatly in conjunction with the Internet, since it provides an environment that is information rich and well suited to interactivity. This article reviews past research on personalization and considers some examples of personalization in practice. We discuss what we believe are key problems and directions for personalization in the future.     

The Effect of Data Breaches on Shareholder Wealth

Many companies face the risk of a data breach exposing stored personal information of customers and employees. The frequency of such incidents has been increasing over time and can result in significant costs for the affected firm. This article examines the stock market's assessment of the cost of data breaches at publicly traded companies in which personal information such as customer and/or employee data are exposed. Using event study methodology on a sample of 77 events between the beginning of 2004 and the end of 2006, we find that the overall effect of a data breach on shareholder wealth is negative and statistically significant. Based on a cross-sectional analysis of the cumulative abnormal returns, we find a negative association between market reaction and firms that are less forthcoming about the details of the breach. We also find that firms with higher market-to-book ratios experience greater negative abnormal returns associated with a data breach. Further, we find that firm size and subsidiary status mitigate the negative effect of a data breach on the firm's stock price and that the negative market reaction to a data breach is more significant in the most recent time periods of the sample.     

Spatial Economic Analysis in Data‐Rich Environments

Controlling for spatial effects in micro‐level studies of consumer and producer behaviour necessitates a range of analytical modifications. These range from modest changes in data collection and the definition of variables to dramatic changes in the modelling of consumer and producer decision‐making. This paper discusses conceptual, empirical and data issues involved in modelling the spatial aspects of economic behaviour in data‐rich environments. Attention is given to established and emerging agricultural economic applications of spatial data and spatial econometric methods at the micro‐scale. Recent applications of individual and household data are featured, including models of land‐use change at the urban–rural interface, agricultural land values, and technological change and technology adoption.