Effects of a short-term linguistic class on communication competence of international nurses: implications for practice, policy, and research

International nurses face a host of challenges in their transition and adaptation to the U.S. health care environment. Language and communication barriers have been ranked consistently as a top concern by employers, regulatory agencies, and international nurses themselves. Researchers in this study examined the effects of a 10-week linguistic class on the reduction of phonologic errors affecting foreign accent in a sample of international nurses. The linguistic course appeared to be effective in improving the international nurses' linguistic competence by reducing their phonologic errors significantly. Moreover, the intervention narrowed the linguistic gap between international nurses from non-English and English-speaking countries. Findings from this study have important implications for practice, policy, and research regarding quality of care, as well as for the transition, job satisfaction, and retention of international nurses.     

Returns to spending on agricultural extension: the case of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) program of Uganda†

The aim of this paper is to assess the direct and indirect impacts of the agricultural extension system of Uganda, the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) program, on household agricultural income. Data from two rounds of surveys of Ugandan rural farm‐households conducted in 2004 and 2007, as well as different program evaluation methods and model specifications, are used to estimate impacts and compute a rate of return. The direct and indirect impact of the program is estimated at 37–95% and 27–55% increase in per capita agricultural gross revenue between 2004 and 2007 for households participating directly and indirectly in the program, respectively, compared to nonparticipants. The rate of return on the program's expenditures is estimated at 8–49%. The program has been relatively more effective among male‐headed, larger, and asset‐poor households, as well as those taking up noncrop high‐value enterprises and living further away from financial services, all‐weather roads, and markets or located in the Eastern and Northern Regions. Policy implications of the results are drawn.     

The influence of social institutions on managers’ concept of trust: Implications for trust-building in Sino-German relationships

Trust has predominantly been seen as a universal construct. Recent research suggests that members of different cultures vary in their understanding of trust. These variations are mostly attributed to the national institutional environment. In describing China and Germany's institutional environments, we emphasize the fundamental institutional differences reflected in their managers’ conceptualizations of trust. Based on 45 interviews with Chinese and German managers, we identify shared elements in their concepts of trust that are likely to foster Sino-German trust development, but also two important dissimilarities which can hinder the development of trust in these relationships.     

Innovationskommunikation 2.0 — Das Beispiel Apple iPhone

Zusammenfassung  Das iPhone ist laut TIME Magazine die Innovation des Jahres 2007. über das innovative Telefon wurde intensiv in den digitalen und analogen Medien berichtet. Apple schaffte es im Gegensatz zu vielen Konkurrenten durch eine gezielte Innovationskommunikation bei potenziellen K?ufern bereits weit vor der offiziellen Markteinführung Wissen über den Namen, das Design und die Funktionalit?ten des iPhones aufzubauen.     

The effect of operational flexibility on decisions to withdraw from foreign production locations

Research on international divestment has identified a variety of factors that influence the closure of individual subsidiaries. Drawing on the concept of operational flexibility, this paper investigates the flexibility characteristics of an international production network to predict divestments of elements of this network. The analysis of 596 production locations of 189 German manufacturing firms reveals that the decision to divest a foreign location due to rising and uncertain labor costs is moderated by the ease of dismissing workers and the opportunity to shift production to locations with opposite labor cost developments. Furthermore, the results suggest that the costs of increasing production output moderate the influence of labor cost developments in the remaining locations of the network on the decision to withdraw from a location.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Blogosphere

This paper uses social network analysis to examine the interaction between corporate blogs devoted to sustainability issues and the blogosphere, a clustered online network of collaborative actors. By analyzing the structural embeddedness of a prototypical blog in a virtual community, we show the potential of online platforms to document corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and to engage with an increasingly socially and ecologically aware stakeholder base. The results of this study show that stakeholder involvement via sustainability blogs is a valuable new practice for CSR communications and stakeholder engagement. It also opens new horizons for communicating CSR issues to key constituencies online.     

Pflege meets Physiotherapie

Patientenbetreuung in der Thoraxchirurgie - Eine Lungenoperation ist eine extreme Belastung für den Patienten. über ihren Erfolg entscheidet jedoch auch eine gute Zusammenarbeit zwischen Physiotherapie und Pflege. Schon im Vorfeld des Eingriffs sollten beide Professionen Hand in Hand arbeiten.