Boarding the Aircraft: Trust Development Amongst Negotiators of a Complex Merger

We explore trust development in the context of an international merger negotiation. Based on in‐depth interviews with chief negotiators of the Air France–KLM merger, we contribute to existing theory by showing that trust develops in three interrelated domains: personal, process, and outcome. Progressively, trust develops in all domains on the basis of antecedents that differ between phases and domains. Distinguishing between different domains facilitates analysis of trust asymmetry and the coexistence of trust and distrust, as well as the influence of trust in interorganizational relationships.     

A comparative perspective on gender and accountancy

Different theoretical approaches have been used to examine the process of assimi-lation of women into professional occupations. A Franco-British comparative study of women's incorporation into accountancy is used to test the explanatory value of different bodies of theory. The research suggests that the integration of women into the profession may have progressed further in France than in Britain, and that the process is influenced by societal characteristics. Differences in the relationship between training, the role of professional associations, organiza-tional structure and the public policy environment are shown to affect women's choices and career opportunities.     

NPM merger mania Lessons from an early case

A central doctrine of NPM requires the adoption of commercial management techniques to address the espoused goals of saving money and improving collaboration and service co-ordination. This article examines the evidence base for NPM mergers and uses study data to explain how two ingrained features of professional work helped to produce unintended outcomes at an early UK case involving a specialist mental health provider and an acute trust. The emergence of a de facto mental health trust within the merged entity arose from senior professionals' capacity to ‘buffer’ the work of colleagues from the rationalizing spectre of the merger. The persistence of ‘loosely coupled’ practices and structures restricted improvements in collaboration and service co-ordination. It is argued that these two enduring characteristics of professional organization will shape the outcomes of future NPM mergers in mental health care e.g. the creation of social care trusts and mental health ‘super-trusts’) and in other fields such as higher education.     

Health state utilities associated with caring for an individual with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)

Abstract

Aim

Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma (CTCL) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by skin lesions, which can negatively impact the quality of life of both patients and their caregivers. The Decision Support Unit (DSU) at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK recently outlined a rationale for the inclusion of caregiver burden in economic evaluations. This study aimed to estimate utilities for health states associated with being a caregiver for an individual with CTCL at different stages of treatment.     

Victimisation and agency: the social construction of union women’s leadership

This article interrogates the notion that women union leaders lead differently. Despite significant variation in the union movements in Australia, Canada, Sweden, the UK and the USA, similar discourses on women’s union leadership emerge in all five countries. Based on a materialist social construction approach which supports a recognition of difference without reference to essentialist ideas about women’s nature, this article seeks to identify what may be common across these countries to explain this phenomenon. The article argues that the fact that women face discrimination in unions, on the one hand, and organise as a constituency and have access to women‐only education, on the other, supports the development of transformational leadership among women unionists, even across diverse contexts and cultures. Unpacking union women’s leadership practices in this way reveals a dialectic of victimisation and agency.     

‘When the Going Gets Tough’ . . . : Recession and the Resilience of Workplace Partnership

Drawing on longitudinal research in an engineering multinational corporation, this article considers the resilience of workplace partnership under conditions of retrenchment. In line with extant literature, the twin influences of trade union power and competitive strategy are seen to significantly shape the durability of partnership. Beyond these determinants, trust and managerial skill and political sensitivity are deemed important moderators. The findings nonetheless suggest that the favourable alignment of these factors may not represent a sufficient bulwark in those situations where the axis of partnership is local, within the context of otherwise centrally coordinated industrial relations.     

Estimating an origin–destination table for US imports of waterborne containerized freight

Containerized freight imports into the US are growing at an average of 10% per year. This traffic is concentrated at a small number of US seaports. It is therefore important to have an accurate understanding of the flow of containers from their origin country through these seaports to their final destination. This paper develops an optimization model to estimate route flows and a corresponding multi-modal origin–destination table for containers by synthesizing data on international trade and railcar movements with a gravity model for the demand of container traffic. This analysis provides insights into the balance of rail and truck inland transportation from each port.     

The media lab at the university of the West of England, Bristol

This article describes the background and early steps undertaken to establish a Media Lab at the University of the West of England. The Media Lab is an industry-related research and development facility for creative technology projects involving new media; for example, interactive storytelling in virtual reality, distributed media production, visualisation of the environment, automatic set design and the development of digital media devices and services. The project is described under the headings: background, project activities, implementation issues, impact on the local economy, and lessons learned.