Job profile research for the purchasing profession

The study reported in this article is based on theories about job and competence analysis and a project in which job profiles were developed that were aimed at providing a framework of reference for evaluating in‐service training programmes for purchasing professionals (professional buyers of goods and services in various sectors of the economy) provided by a training institution of an association for purchasing management. This project was commissioned as part of the permanent maintenance policy of the training institution, but also based on experience with an earlier comparable project, and concerns about test development using job profiles and related attainment targets. The study is part of a research programme on course development for professional training. Ideas about course content validation were explored and tested. The article addresses the issue of trustworthiness and uncertainty reduction in the job profile research process. It specifically looks at the methods used in job profile development and perennial research problems that are related to that, such as stratification of a professional sector, sector‐specificity of job information, formatting job profiles, and the value added of small‐scale in‐depth analyses of work processes versus large‐scale job surveys. It concludes that small‐scale, context‐related analyses of jobs adds most value, but that this is not sufficient for ensuring faith in the study results. Large‐scale surveys complement the in‐depth analyses in this respect. So using a mix of in‐depth and large‐scale methods is recommended in conducting job profile research.     

Das transatlantische Freihandelsabkommen — Relativierung von Chancen und Risiken

Since June 2013, negotiations have been underway between the U.S. and the EU on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Proponents of the envisaged agreement predict significantly positive effects on growth and employment. Critics, however, fear a reduction of existing standards, such as consumer or environmental protections, or abuse of the scheduled Investor- State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). The often very contrary positions recall the hopes and fears associated with the establishment of the European Single Market in the early 1990s. Against the background of the realised growth and employment effects of the much wider EU single market project and the significantly lower economic ties between the EU and the U.S., both the expected growth momentum as well as the potential risks of the TTIP need to be qualified.     

Legitimating change in the public sector: the introduction of (rational?) accounting practices in the United Kingdom,Italy and Austria

This paper explores the deployment of rhetorical legitimation strategies during public-sector accounting reforms by investigating how organizational actors justify related changes in the central governments of the United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Austria. The study shows that changes are largely legitimated (and rarely delegitimated) by key actors, with authorization strategies dominating. Country differences and actors’ professional backgrounds also impact upon the use of legitimation strategies, with those from an accounting background and working in the UK being more likely to justify change in terms of rationalization and normalization. Italian and Austrian actors more frequently resort to authorization strategies to explain accounting change.     

20 Jahre Binnenmarkt

In 1992 the European Single Market was to have been completed. But there is still no truly integrated market in many fields — the EC has to overcome many obstacles yet to make this happen. Based on different EU integration indexes, it is shown that internal market integration has developed since the introduction of the euro. At the same time, the internal market linkages are different from country to country. Internal — but also external - trade and wealth have grown. However, whether there would have been more or less success without the internal market is a question that must be answered. A single market probably does not require a common currency.     

Zehn Jahre Euro

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Risky choices and solidarity: disentangling different behavioural channels

Experimental Economics - We investigate whether informal support is sensitive to the extent to which individuals can influence their income risk exposure by opting into risk. In a laboratory...     

Ursachen und Wirkungen der Finanzkrise — eine ökonomische Analyse

Zusammenfassung  Bei der derzeitigen Finanzkrise handelt es sich nicht um eine „einfache“ Vertrauenskrise, sondern um das Ergebnis l?ngerfristiger Fehlentwicklungen. Wo liegen die Ursachen für diese Fehlentwicklungen? Warum sind dadurch viele Wirtschaftssubjekte schlechter gestellt? Welche Ma?nahmen wurden kurzfristig zur Begrenzung der Finanzkrise ergriffen und welche sind l?ngerfristig erforderlich? Prof. Dr. Renate Neub?umer, 56, leitet am Campus Landau der Universit?t Koblenz-Landau die Abteilung für Wirtschaftswissenschaften. W?hrend eines halbj?hrigen Forschungsaufenthalts an der Harvard Universit?t hat sie die Finanzkrise „vor Ort“ erlebt und diskutiert.