Workplace chaplains: filling a need traditional EAPs can't meet

More organizations are finding secular counseling provided by employee assistance programs (EAPs) is inadequate for many employees. As a result, increasing numbers of employers are providing services of workplace chaplains. Chaplain services are not necessarily part of the recent fad toward "spirituality" in organizations, but rather address the needs of an increasingly non-churchgoing culture living in a more stressful world.     

Intercultural Competency Development in Conjunction With a Short Term Study Away Experience： Changes in Undergraduate Students

The purpose of this research was to examine whether undergraduate business students who participated in a short term study abroad course and intercultural competence building coursework demonstrated a significant increase in intercultural competence over those who only enrolled in the study abroad course. The 20 participants attended a small liberal arts College in Midwestern United States. The Intercultural Development Inventory （IDI） was administered to the participating students before and after their study away experience. The IDI （v.3） is based on the theoretical framework of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity （DMIS） introduced by Milton Bennett. The DMIS is based on the assumption that intercultural competence can be strengthen through the development of intercultural knowledge and experience with people from other cultures. The IDI has been used in numerous scholarly studies and has demonstrated valid and reliable results. It is a self-administered 50-item series of statements in which participants are asked to rate the level of their agreement with statements that address their relationship to and evaluation of cultural difference. In the model, people progress in a linear developmental fashion through six stages： defense, denial, polarization, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation. This study was designed to determine if students who studied away and completed intercultural coursework （prior intercultural knowledge and an intercultural experience） would increase their level of intercultural competency more than those students who just studied away （intercultural experience only） as measured by the change in their IDI scores. The results of this small sample show that intercultural coursework in conjunction with a short term study away experience can have a positive impact on individual intercultural development.     

Scarcity Message Effects on Consumption Behavior: Limited Edition Product Considerations

Recently, many luxury brands have begun to launch limited edition (LE) products. When this happens, advertisers implement two typical types of scarcity messages for LE products: limited‐time scarcity (LTS) versus limited‐quantity scarcity (LQS) messages (Cialdini, 2008). Prior research offered empirical evidence that these scarcity messages make consumers feel that LE products are more special, unique, and valuable, and thus, positively influence their evaluation of the product (Aggarwal, Jun, & Huh, 2011). The current study examined the differential effects of LTS and LQS messages on different types of LE products by focusing on consumers’ need for uniqueness.     

Strategic and Business Planning Practices of Fast Growth Family Firms

Fast-growth family firms were surveyed about their business and strategic planning practices. Of the 65 fast-growth family firms surveyed, the majority prepare written formal plans. The business plans are in sufficient detail to enable the business to tie planning to actual performance and to adjust management compensation accordingly. The majority of the firms regularly share information with employees regarding comparisons between actual company performance results and goals or planned performance. Further, the majority of the firms describe their business strategy as a high quality producer strategy rather than as a low-cost or time-based strategy. Further, when bringing new products to market, these fast-growth family firms adopt a first mover or early follower strategy. Implications of these findings for growth-oriented family firms are presented.