Mental Health and the ADA: A Focus Group Discussion with Human Resource Practitioners

In 1997, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidelines to clarify implementation of the mental health regulations under the ADA. This paper explores the impact of those guidelines on human resource practices in the workplace. Focus group discussions were conducted with human resource practitioners from over a dozen medium-sized, mid-western corporations. Analysis of the focus group discussions identified four primary issues: underreporting of mental health disabilities; the impact of demographic differences on mental health; misreporting of mental health disabilities; and the impact of the environment on mental health.     

Recombination for innovation: performance outcomes from international partnerships in China

This paper examines the relationship between different types of international partnerships and innovation performance. By drawing on a conceptual framework which outlines how new bundles of transferrable and nontransferrable ownership advantages are created from such partnerships (Collinson and Narula, 2014 ), we analyze empirical evidence from a large‐scale survey of 320 individual company responses from the China‐based operations of foreign multinational firms alongside in‐depth case studies. Our study reveals that different types of collaborative partnerships (cooperative vs. competitive) are associated with different innovation performance outcomes (product vs. process innovation). In addition, we find that a sustainable, reciprocal relationship between collaborative partners can generate superior innovation performance. Contextual factors including the role of government and industry characteristics have an important bearing on innovation performance in collaborative partnerships in China. We conclude with implications for researchers, managers, and policymakers.     

Managing product innovation at sony: the development of the data discman

Successjulb innovativejms tend to be those that have evolved organizational mechanisms that enable areas of specialist knowledge and expertise, 'fragmented' throughout the firm amongst specialists, to be easily integrated and applied to a particular function. This paper looks at how such mechanisms, working within a broader corporate anvironment that is conducive to creative change, underlie much of the success of a particular Fapanese firm in its management of the product development process. The case study examines how a new multi-media product, the Data Discman, was developed by a project team in Sony. It shows how common hurdles in the drive for a working, cost-effective and marketable product, in this case a novel combination of specialized technologies, are overcome quickly and effectively for project success.     

The Responsible Shareholder

There is confusion about the ethical responsibilities of shareholders, including institutions, but a cool look at clarity of purpose can do much to dispel it. The author is a working philosopher who was Lecturer and a Fulbright Fellow at the London School of Economics and spent fourteen years as an investment banker before becoming a writer and independent consultant. She has lectured on business ethics at the London Business School, and has completed her first City mystery novel, Making a Killing .     

Volume and skewness in international equity markets

We examine the relation between trading volume and skewness in 11 international stock markets using daily and monthly data from January 1980 to August 2004. We construct single equation and VAR models of the relation between the first three moments of market returns and trading volumes. Our results show hitherto unrecognised channels of influence, and support the investor heterogeneity approach to explaining return asymmetries.     

Consumer involvement in health research: a UK scoping and survey

Consumer involvement or patient and public involvement (PPI) in health research is a UK policy imperative and a prerequisite for many funders. PPI in research is defined as research carried out with or being carried out by the public (or service users), rather than research on patients and public as subjects or participants. Despite the clear policy driver, there is relatively little empirical evidence on the extent, processes and impact of user involvement in research. This paper aims to add to the international evidence base on PPI in research by providing a key overview of current trends and impacts. In order to understand the current extent and variation of PPI in research, a scoping exercise and survey were carried out on selected UK studies. Six research topic areas (cystic fibrosis, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and public health) were selected to ensure a range of designs, study populations and histories of PPI in research. A total of 838 studies (non‐commercial studies and not older than 2 years) were contacted. The response rate for the scoping was 38% and the survey 28%. In the scoping, 51% of studies had some evidence of PPI and in the survey 79%. The most common PPI activity was steering committee membership and reviewing patient information leaflets. There appeared to be some blurred roles with patients participating as research subjects as well as carrying out patient involvement roles. A major finding was the limited amount of available information about PPI in publicly accessible research documents. We suggest that the invisibility of this type of involvement and the lack of routinely collected information about PPI results in a lack of shared understanding of what optimal PPI in a study should look like, with important implications for practice. Furthermore, without a framework to review PPI it is difficult to know if different approaches to PPI have a different impact on key outcomes of the research.     

Small Business–Bank Relationships and the Role of Internet Banking

In the aftermath of the Cruickshank Report (2000) Cruickshank, D. 2000. “Competition in UK banking (A Report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer)”. London: The Stationery Office.  [Google Scholar] and the Competition Commission's investigation (2002) Competition Commission Report. 2002. “The supply of banking services to SMEs”. HM Treasury, available at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk (accessed 2 December 2002) [Google Scholar] into SME–bank relationships, this paper examines the current state of the small business–bank relationship and ascertains whether the Internet could be used to improve the quality of the relationship. It utilises a qualitative research method, which consisted of 24 interviews with small business owners and relationship managers in banks. The interviews, inter alia, address the following main research questions: what are the needs and expectations of small business owners from their relationships with banks? What do small businesses think about the overall quality of service provided by banks in the relationship context? What was the delivery preference of small businesses and banks in the relationship? What did small business owners and banks think had been the main effects of e-banking on relationship management. The paper incorporates a discussion of the main findings and makes pragmatic policy and practice recommendations based on the results.     

Food,literature, art,and the demise of dualistic thought

In the early 1990s philosopher Deane Curtin proposed a “food‐centered philosophy of human being,” whereby food became a potential site for the elimination of the self/other duality so central to Western thought. Since food is ingested and becomes part of the self, it obliges us to reconceptualize not only the other but also the identity of a self that is so permeable, it can physically incorporate the other. Food/cooking/eating as a conceptual complex has further challenged the self/other dichotomy in barrier‐breaking new cultural artifacts such as “food books,” performance art pieces, and popular film.     

The impact of PPS legislation on the systematic risk of hospitals

In 1983 the government passed legislation implementing a new method of paying hospitals for Medicare inpatient services, the Prospective Payment System (PPS). Under this system the changes in economic incentives to hospitals affected the market conditions under which hospitals operate. This article investigates the impact of PPS on the financial riskiness of hospitals. Using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), this study analyzes the systematic risk of a portfolio of four publicly traded acute care hospitals in the pre-PPS and post-PPS periods, as well as four control portfolios. It covers a pre-PPS period from 1976 to the passage of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) and a post-PPS period through 1988. The systematic risk for publicly traded acute care hospitals increased significantly in the post-PPS period. However, the control groups also showed significant changes in systematic risk.