The Determinants of Employment in Foreign Firms in the UK Food Manufacturing Sector: A Note

This paper seeks to evaluate the factors that have given rise to the large presence of foreign firms in the UK food and drink manufacturing sector. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in food and drink manufacturing is very high – the second highest for any manufacturing sector in the UK economy. An empirical model is tested on 48 5‐digit sectors in the food industry and we find that brands, skills and a low propensity to export positively affect employment in EU‐owned firms. Alternatively, employment in non‐EU owned firms is affected by propensity to export factors and by the effective tariff rate.     

Predicting childlessness for recent cohorts of American women

Over 50% of the American women now in the midst of the childbearing years have never borne a child. These levels of childlessness for women in their 20s are the highest ones in a time series that spans most of the twentieth century. Will postponed parenthood be translated into very high levels of permanent childlessness? Or will these cohorts "catch-up" with a late fertility flurry in their 30s and 40s? The authors examine 3 projection strategies: one using women's stated fertility expectations, a second relying on the patterns of previous cohorts, and a third which posits that current rates will persist into the future. The predictive validity of these different projection strategies are tested with data for the 1980-87 period. They show that the projection based on current period rates performs well. Further, the authors argue that it better captures the first birth process than other models. They forecast levels of 20% childless for cohorts of white women born in the early 1960s. Recent trends for nonwhites are very different from those for whites: levels of 4% are forecast for nonwhite women.     

Accountability and not‐for‐profit organisations: Implications for developing international financial reporting standards

This paper provides empirical evidence which informs contemporary debates on developing international financial reporting standards for not‐for‐profit organisations (NPOs). Drawing on a global survey with respondents showing experience of NPO reporting in 179 countries, we explore: practice and beliefs about NPO financial reporting internationally; perceptions of accountability between NPOs and stakeholders; and implications for developing international financial reporting standards. Interpreting our research in the context of accountability, we find considerable support for developing international financial reporting standards for NPOs, recognising broad stewardship accountability to all stakeholders as important, but prioritising accountability upwards to external funders and regulators.     

Perceived human resource system strength and employee reactions toward change: Revisiting human resource's remit as change agent

Although scholars have highlighted human resource's (HR's) important role as a change agent, we know little about the extent to which HR influences the change context to foster positive employee responses and support organizational changes. This study positions perceived HR system strength as an important internal context factor that influences employees' reactions toward change. Drawing on emotion theory and social exchange theory, we analyze the mechanisms through which employees' perceptions of HR system strength lead to positive employee responses to organizational change. Data from 704 employees in a UK police force showed that employees' perceptions of HR system strength were positively related to their ability to cope with organizational change and that this relationship was simultaneously mediated by state positive affect and perceived organizational support. Moreover, our findings demonstrated that coping with organizational change was positively related to employees' change‐supportive behavior. This study is important because it broadens the remit of HR's role as change agent and provides valuable insight into how HR positively influences employee outcomes during organizational change.     

Constructing the ScratchJr programming language in the early childhood classroom

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on children and computer programming by focusing on a programming language for children in Kindergarten through second grade. Sixty-two students were exposed to a 6-week curriculum using ScartchJr. They learned foundational programming concepts and applied those concepts to create personally meaningful projects using the ScratchJr programming app. This paper addresses the following research question: Which ScratchJr programming blocks do young children choose to use in their own projects after they have learned them all through a tailored programming curriculum? Data was collected in the form of the students’ combined 977 projects, and analyzed for patterns and differences across grades. This paper summarizes findings and suggests potential directions for future research. Implications for the use of ScratchJr as an introductory programming language for young children are also discussed.     

The Effects of Cross‐Functional Integration on Profitability,Process Efficiency,and Asset Productivity

We employ information processing theory (IPT) to posit beneficial impacts of internal integration on firm profitability and its underlying components of process efficiency and asset productivity. We further hypothesize that these effects are greater for firms that operate wider spans of supply chain processes. These expectations are tested with the combination of two different data sources: primary data collected to gauge levels of internal integration, and secondary data collected from financial reports including profitability performance and related financial ratios. The results provide evidence that internal integration mainly affects profits by driving process efficiencies. These efficiencies appear to be especially significant in sales, general, and administrative related costs for firms that have broad process spans. In contrast, the data analysis offers no evidence of a relationship between internal integration and asset productivity. Based on these findings, we point out important implications for the applicability of IPT in explaining the effects of internal integration, and identify a call for action for practitioners. Overall, our study enhances both the rigor and relevance of internal integration research by grounding it in IPT, by utilizing objectively reported financial data, by identifying specific cost benefits, and by studying the impact of process span as an important contingency.