十年1998/2008 林明弘

本期《纸上美术馆》所辑选林明弘的作品,分别勾勒出艺术家创作生涯中两条不同的概念轨迹和时间线索。如同硬币的两面或刀之双刃,林明弘的艺术实践一直以来都围绕着同一个主题的许多彼此各异而又紧密关联的变体而展开,而这始终如一的主题就是:慷慨。他最知名的作品以大体量的花布填充建筑空间,此为他艺术实践的一极;而将在这里展示的创作则构成林明弘艺术的另一条线索,即,时间性和更富直接性的互动作品。慷慨是一个动态而非静止的概念。在林明弘的艺术语汇中,我们可以窥见某种盘旋于对立两级之间的微妙运动,它以变易性为核心,后者正是给予/接受、生产/消费、夜/日、光/暗、开/闭、暖/寒等一系列多样的二元性得以成立的源泉。此处选择和展呈的作品并不应被视作一次对林明弘1 998至2008年艺术经历的回顾,而更像是近距离地、有选择地审视这十年来的部分作品。     

Absence management and the issues of job retention and return to work

Strategies aimed at facilitating the job retention and return to work of sick and injured workers are currently the subject of growing attention. In this article the authors examine the nature and potential significance of such strategies to absence management and utilise interview findings to shed light on current employer policies and practices relating to the management of long‐term absences. They conclude that at the national level a large proportion of working days lost through sickness absence stem from relatively long spells of absence and that the adoption of a proactive approach to supporting the return to work of ill and injured workers can have beneficial consequences. However, they further conclude that few organisations appear to have comprehensive arrangements in place to handle cases of long‐term absence. A number of areas where present employer arrangements could usefully be reviewed are therefore identified.     

Feminism’s fourth wave: a research agenda for marketing and consumer research

Abstract

Three waves of feminism each reveal a very different relationship with marketing. This commentary considers these relationships in the light of what is now frequently being hailed as the fourth wave, a resurgence of feminism that is driven by younger women who harness the power of the Internet and social media to challenge gender inequity. The commentary looks at what distinguishes the fourth wave from its predecessors and highlights key areas in marketing and consumer research where feminist perspectives are sorely required.     

The regulation of science-based claims in advertising

This paper analyzes the effects of scientific information dissemination on consumer and producer behavior. The first section draws heavily from evidence on the ready-to-eat cereal market during a period in which information developed about the health benefits of fiber cereal consumption. Although producers were initially prohibited from advertising these benefits, the regulatory ban against advertising was lifted during the period we study. Our results indicate that advertising was an important source of information leading to increased fiber cereal consumption and product innovation. The second part of our paper discusses the potential for deception if science-based claims are allowed. In the final section we consider a number of regulatory proposals that have been raised in the context of health claims for food products. We evaluate these proposals against the three goals of encouraging the dissemination of truthful information and discouraging the dissemination of deceptive or misleading information and their ability to keep pace with the changing science.     

Modelling Seasonality in the Australian Consumption Function

This paper puts forward the proposition that failure to take account of stochastic seasonality results in dynamic misspecification. This point is illustrated by estimating various versions of a simple Australian consumpt ion function using seasonally unadjusted data covering the period 1959(3)–1993(3). It is demonstrated that only the equation modelling stochastic seasonality as an unobserved component shows no dynamic misspecification unlike other equations. This equation is also shown to have the highest explanatory power and, unlike other equations, to be structurally stable     

Impression management: dual language reporting and voluntary disclosure

The presentation of corporate disclosure may be explained by impression management. The relative extent of corporate disclosure may be related to information costs. This paper links these two theoretical perspectives by comparing the extent of voluntary disclosure in companies that have chosen to present a dual language approach to reporting, relative to the disclosure provided by companies choosing to report only in one language. The analysis shows that voluntary disclosure is higher in companies that have higher visibility through dual language reporting and whose investors face higher information costs. The analysis also shows that voluntary disclosure by companies reporting only in one language is associated with domestic visibility in market listing and type of industry, while that of companies reporting in two languages is associated with responding to market pressures.     

Lost in translation: exploring the link between HRM and performance in healthcare

Using data collected in 2004 from 132 Victorian (Australia) public healthcare providers, comprising metropolitan and regional hospital networks, rural hospitals and community health centres, we investigated the perceptions of HRM from the experiences of chief executive officers, HR directors and other senior managers. We found some evidence that managers in healthcare organisations reported different perceptions of strategic HRM and a limited focus on collection and linking of HR performance data with organisational performance management processes. Using multiple moderator regression and multivariate analysis of variance, significant differences were found in perceptions of strategic HRM and HR priorities between chief executive officers, HR directors and other senior managers in the large organisations. This suggested that the strategic human management paradigm is ‘lost in translation’, particularly in large organisations, and consequently opportunities to understand and develop the link between people management practices and improved organisational outcomes may be missed. There is some support for the relationship between strategic HRM and improved organisational outcomes. Implications of these findings are drawn for managerial practice.     

The contribution of human capital to a holistic response to climate change: learning from and for the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

Abstract

The Mekong Delta has been identified by the International Panel on Climate Change as one of the three most vulnerable areas in the world as sea levels rise due to climate change. The Vietnam Government has implemented a range of policies to assist migration in order to address these environmental problems. While much research has focused on the environmental causes of, and responses to, climate change there has been less research on the impact of environmentally motivated responses to climate change on labour force and human capital factors. This paper examines the experience of the Vietnam Government in encouraging internal migration from vulnerable agricultural areas to urban industrial cities, to explore the human capital effects of these environmentally motivated response to climate change. The paper first presents the environmental argument for migration in response to climate change, together with examples of what the Vietnam Government has done to encourage migration from the rural (originating) areas to other rural resettlement and city (receiving) areas. It then uses data collected as part of recent study into the impact of government encouragement for internal migration to explore the labour force and human capital impacts in both the originating region and receiving areas. The findings suggest that while there are social and economic advantages there are challenges, including ensuring that job opportunities are available, migrants and appropriate skills, and that labour contracts provide for job security and healthy and safe working result in improved living conditions. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a more integrated approach that acknowledges and addresses associated human capital (skills upgrading) and business development needs and integrates these with environmentally-motivated policies.