Learning the Organisation: Confusions and Contradictions For New Managers

Diane Preston, who is Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Loughborough University Business School, draws on a study of graduates from four sites of a multinational chemical company to discuss the process of socialisation of new managers. She argues that of particular significance is the new managers’ relationship with their own manager; where the manager is supportive and encouraging, this creates a positive lens through which other organisational activities are seen.     

Share recommendations in singapore's financial press

This study compares the returns earned by shares featured in the Company Profile section ofSingapore Business with the results expected in a semi-strong efficient market. Prices in an efficient market reflect known information and recommended shares in the financial press are not expected to outperform the market. The results of this study are mixed but tend to match the outcome that is expected for an efficient market. Although the sixty-eight shares selected between January 1977 and October 1982 increased sharply in value on average during the following year, all of the gain during the first six months can be attributed to market changes. Only at nine and twelve months did the shares appear to outperform the market, but the level of statistical significance for the excess returns was low.The author is with the University of Hawaii and holds a visiting position at the National University of Singapore.     

Question and Answer in 'A' Level Economics

Graham Dawson, Head of Economics at Bedford School, gives the third in the series of Model Answers for 'A' Level economics.     

Some models for simulating canadian manpower flows and related systems

The paper reports on a series of models designed for computer simulation of Canadian manpower flows at different levels of unemployment, either alone or in conjunction with related population flows. The models are disaggregated macromodels of the state-transition variety. One relates to annual flows, the others to monthly flows.The models have been used for various purposes, including simulation analyses of the effects of changes in economic conditions and government policy variables on two government programs, namely unemployment insurance and manpower training. Other applications are possible and, in general, the basic approach underlying the models is considered to have much potential for manpower policy analysis.     

Floriculture du Suroît inc.*

Floriculture du Suroît inc. is a SME in the horticulture field. It cultivates and sells geraniums, but a new subsidiary, Les Roses de Caroline, recently start the culture of roses. Floriculture has just obtained a governmental subsidy and, for the first time, the company will have to produce audited financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Thus, the two owners will have to choose between two accounting frameworks, that is, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or Canadian Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE). Many differences exist between these two frameworks. More specifically, IFRS provide specific standards related to agricultural activity and investment properties, while ASPE do not. In addition, ASPE permit many choices between accounting treatments, which should be carefully analyzed. The owners are neophytes in accounting matter. Thus, they need help for accounting issues.     

Earnouts: A study of financial contracting in acquisition agreements

We empirically examine earnout contracts, which provide for contingent payments in acquisition agreements. Our analysis reveals considerable heterogeneity in the potential size of the earnout, the performance measure on which the contingent payment is based, the period over which performance is measured, the form of payment for the earnout, and the overall sensitivity of earnout payment to target performance. Our tests of the determinants of contract terms yield support for the view that earnouts are structured to minimize the costs of valuation uncertainty and moral hazard in acquisition negotiations.     

Toward A Theory on the Reproduction of Social Innovations in Subsistence Marketplaces

Social innovations and their diffusion are critical in bridging the multiplicity of deprivations experienced by those in subsistence contexts. Yet they often do not diffuse as expected. To better understand this prevalent problem, this article develops a theory of diffusion that explains the reproduction (duplication) of social innovations in subsistence contexts. The theory utilizes a bottom‐up perspective that considers what attributes of innovations and capacities of actors matter to reproduction, particularly for subsistence user‐producers. Adopting an inductive, case‐based approach, the authors draw on examples of social innovations in sub‐Saharan Africa. Based on the authors' research and extant literature, this article builds a typology that captures different modes of reproduction. The typology delineates three archetypes of reproduced social innovations: mimetic, facilitated, and complex, and notes how frugal innovations can emerge from these archetypes. These archetypes are based on the interactions of: (1) a product's resource and knowledge complexities, and (2) the knowledge capabilities or resources of various actors, including subsistence user‐producers and bridging agents. The typology thus illuminates the conditions under which subsistence user‐producers might independently reproduce a social innovation (mimetic innovations), when they need assistance from bridging agents (facilitated innovations), and when the mix of resources and knowledge are beyond their capacity (complex innovations). Moreover, by exploring reproduction experiences of subsistence users, this article recognizes the implications of low literary, close social networks, and physical limitations. By examining who controls the knowledge and resources imperative to reproduction, the authors go beyond a focus on the social benefits of innovations to consider how intellectual property and profits matter to different actors. This article pulls together these various insights and identifies key implications that social innovators and intermediaries should consider when working to reproduce social innovations in subsistence contexts and with subsistence user‐producers.     

The link between the management of employees and patient mortality in acute hospitals

The relationship between human resource management practices and organizational performance (including quality of care in health-care organizations) is an important topic in the organizational sciences but little research has been conducted examining this relationship in hospital settings. Human resource (HR) directors from sixty-one acute hospitals in England (Hospital Trusts) completed questionnaires or interviews exploring HR practices and procedures. The interviews probed for information about the extensiveness and sophistication of appraisal for employees, the extent and sophistication of training for employees and the percentage of staff working in teams. Data on patient mortality were also gathered. The findings revealed strong associations between HR practices and patient mortality generally. The extent and sophistication of appraisal in the hospitals was particularly strongly related, but there were links too with the sophistication of training for staff, and also with the percentages of staff working in teams.     

Integrated analysis of content and construct validity of psychometric instruments

Establishing adequacy of psychometric properties of an instrument involves acquisition and evaluation of evidence based on item content and internal structure. Content validity evidence consists of subject matter experts providing quantitative ratings of the extent to which items are a representative sample of targeted domain. Evidence of internal structure includes factor analytic studies and examination of item interrelationships based on item responses from participants. Although subject matter expert ratings and participant response data are traditionally analyzed separately, each serves to inform the other in important ways. We propose integrating subject matter experts’ and participants’ data seamlessly to establish a unified model of validity evidence. The approach is applied to an instrument designed to measure nursing home culture change (i.e., resident-centered care). The proposed method has been demonstrated to be useful with a posterior distribution resulting in stable estimates of psychometric parameters superior to traditional analytic approaches. To illustrate the efficacy of the methodology, we present a simulation study and discuss its place in psychometric methods.