Attitudes toward employee participation in decision-making: A comparison of european and american managers in a united states multinational company

This article examines an American multinational company to uncover any crossnational differences in managerial attitudes toward employee participation in decision-making. Human resource practices of the parent company toward its European subsidiaries were also examined, especially those relevant to employee participation issues. Data were collected from the company's manufacturing facilities in Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. Managers were interviewed and then surveyed regarding their attitudes toward participation. The interviews revealed resistance to the parent company's efforts to “export” an American vision of employee participation to its European subsidiaries. The survey data revealed attitudinal differences among European managers as well as among their American counterparts. Possible explanations, implications for human resource executives and research directions are discussed. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Evidence of feedback trading with Markov switching regimes

Previous research has concluded that the degree of return autocorrelation observed in index returns varies linearly with the volatility of the series, and that feedback traders are at least partly responsible for this phenomenon. Using daily Australian bond and equity market returns, we test this conclusion directly by using a Markov switching model for changing variance that explicitly allows the autocorrelation of returns to vary with the volatility regime. We find evidence that a significant proportion of investors in both the Australian equity and bond markets are positive feedback traders and are responsible for the observed increase in negative autocorrelation in index returns during periods of high and increasing volatility.

Determinants of Entry and Profits in Local Banking Markets

This paper estimates a two equation model of market entry and profits, utilizing data on entry into over 2,000 banking markets over the period 1977--88. The entry equations measure whether entry depends on incumbent firms' profits and other market attributes that reflect the long-term attractiveness of markets for entry. Market profits, assumed to follow a partial-adjustment process, are affected by entry directly and indirectly through market structure. The model also corrects for an unavoidable source of error in market-level profits for the banking industry. The estimates suggest that a competitive process is at work in banking markets that limits the ability of supra-normal profits to persist. Entry is more likely in markets that have high profits, consistent with previous empirical results that market structure adjusts more quickly when profits are supra-normal. Population and population growth are also strong determinants of entry. Entry, in turn, reduces profits in rural markets.     

Book Reviews

Miyohei Shinohara and Fu-Chen Lo (eds), Global Adjustment and the Future of Asian-Pacific Economy, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo: Asian and Pacific Development Centre and Institute of Developing Economies, 1989, pp. 585 + xxi, npg.

Frank J. Costa, Ashok K. Dutt, Laurence J.C. Ma and Allen G. Noble, Urbanization in Asia: Spatial Dimensions and Policy Issues, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. US$44.

W. de Jong and F. van Steenbergen, Town and Hinterland in Central Java, Jogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1987, pp. 250 + iv. Paper: Rp 7,000.

Bruce Mckern and Praipol Koomsup (eds), The Minerals Industries of Asean and Australia: Problems and Prospects, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1987, pp. 378 + xviii. Paper: $29.95.

Bruce Mckern and Praipol Koomsup (eds), Minerals Processing in the Industrialisation of Asean and Australia, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1988, pp. 388 + xvii. Paper: $29.95.

Mohamed Ariff and Tan Loong-Hoe (eds), The Uruguay Round: Asean Trade Policy Options, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1988, pp. 211 + xvi.

William R. Cline, The Future of World Trade in Textiles and Apparel, Institute for International Economics, Washington, 1987, pp. 325 + xiv. US$20.

Peter Drysdale, International Economic Pluralism: Economic Policy in East Asia and the Pacific, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1988, pp. 294. Paper $20; Cloth: $30.

Helen Hughes (ed.), Achieving Industrialization in East Asia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 377 + xviii. $59.50.

BRIEFLY NOTED: J. C. Conroy, Shelter for the Homeless: Asian-Pacific Needs and Australian Responses, Canberra: Australian Council for Overseas Aid Development Dossier No 22,1987, pp. 141 + vi.     

Line Managers’ Rationales for Professionals’ Reduced‐Load Work in Embracing and Ambivalent Organizations

This study examines line managers’ rationales regarding reduced‐load work (RLW), an emerging talent management practice allowing professionals to reduce their workload and take a pay cut, while actively remaining on a career path. Unlike flextime and telework, RLW addresses professionals’ core problems of rising work hours and workloads. Interviews with 42 managers in 20 North American employers suggested that managers were more likely to support RLW for employees whom they saw as (1) high‐performers, (2) flexible in their use of RLW, and (3) doing conducive jobs. Interviews with 20 HR experts and 24 senior executives revealed four dimensions of organizational support, two cultural (senior management support and discourse on career penalties) and two structural (adaptation of HR systems and organizational diffusion). In embracing organizations there was a higher frequency of more supportive managers than there was in ambivalent organizations. Managers’ rationales were connected to their organizational contexts, albeit loosely, suggesting managerial implementation agency. The same rationales were more likely to be used in supportive ways in embracing contexts and in less supportive ways in ambivalent contexts. This study suggests that managerial and organizational support for flexible talent management practices dovetail in nuanced and important ways. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Survivor: Three principles of economics lessons as taught by a reality television show

The reality television show Survivor has been a ratings success on CBS for over 16 years. In the show, 16 strangers are marooned in a remote location, required to compete in physical and mental challenges and periodically vote to eliminate players from the game. The last person remaining wins one million dollars. The author uses this popular television show to demonstrate three important principles of microeconomics: (a) for individual decision-making, concepts like pride and honor may belong in the utility function, alongside more classical components such as consumption of goods and services; (b) considering how others will respond to your action is critical for good economic and strategic thinking; and (c) repeated interaction can help collusive behavior hold.