Talent management of skilled migrants: propositions and an agenda for future research

This paper unpacks the dominant conceptualizations of talent management (TM) in contemporary academic publications, and considers these in relation to the increasingly important workforce population of skilled international migrants. It postulates that TM approaches are generally built from a relatively narrow human capital-based perspective wherein organizations focus on readily accessible and immediate skills, ignoring the longer term strategic potential of the international workforce of skilled migrants, particularly for multinational enterprises and other international organizations. Through a series of propositions, the paper highlights how organizations, in strategically using a more comprehensive TM lens rather than a human capital lens in approaching the TM of skilled migrants, could benefit from improved HRM performance over time. It also proposes a research agenda, by which future studies might test, explore, and further develop understanding on a more strategic utilization of skilled migrants in organizations.     

Dept and input misallocation of agricultural supply and marketing cooperatives

Kim and Maksimovic provide an empirical model to examine the effect of dept on a firm. Their model is adopted to examine agricultural supply and marketing cooperatives. Using a short-run variable cost function, we find firm efficiency decreases as dept increases. A US$1 increase in indebtedness increases total short-run variable costs by US$0.0167 or roughly 1.67% Dept tends to shift input usage away from labour inputs. A test developed by Conrad and Unger is applied to determine whether the agricultural supply and marketing cooperatives are at a long-run equilibrium capacity. It is found that most of the cooperatives were overinvested in capacity. However,dept does not explain this overinvestment. Finally,the effect of dept on total productivity over the study period is examined. It is found that dept has had a small positive impact on total factor productivity growth. Scale economics and non-optimal capacity had large impacts on total factor productivity. Although dept is associated with short-run misallocation of resources, we find little evidence that dept is associated with long -run suboptimal capacity.     

Repeated measures and longitudinal data analysis using higher‐order entropies

This paper implements the generalized maximum entropy (GME) method in longitudinal data setup to investigate the regression para meters and correlation among the repeated measurements. We derive the GME system using Shannon classical entropy as well as some higher‐order entropies assuming an autoregressive correlation structure. This method is illustrated using two simulated examples to study the effect of changing the support range and compare the performance of the GME approach with the classical estimation methods.     

Who Dares to Care? (In the World of Finance)

This study argues that gendered barriers to care are limiting the progress of socially responsible investment (SRI). Anchored within the world of finance – an industry predicated on mathematical theorizing, neoclassical economic thought, and omission of relational values – the inclusion of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, a commonly used term for nonfinancial information in SRI, in investment decision making confronts several barriers. One such barrier concerns care: who cares for what, and where. In an environment where an atomistic-individualistic ontology dominates, and a relational-values ontology is omitted, the study investigates the possibilities for ESG to have a wider uptake. It considers the changes required to align the inherently relational aspect of care within a culture of economic reasoning reliant on the exclusion of care. It concludes with suggestions for how a relational caring perspective can be incorporated to accommodate and encourage SRI in the world of financial management.     

Understanding volunteer motivation for participation in a community‐based food cooperative

Those concerned with social exclusion have increasingly recognised the value of community‐level activities as a basis for the development of disadvantaged communities. Much community development activity is collective and depends on members of the community volunteering to take on tasks and responsibilities associated with the collective action. The long‐term success of these activities is contingent on recruitment of sufficient numbers of volunteers and maintaining their commitment. The purpose of this research was to gain insights into volunteers' motives for participating in a community retail initiative, with a view to understanding the dynamics of their relationship with the enterprise as time passes. A series of in‐depth interviews provided evidence that motivations and factors influencing involvement change over time. Relatively vague ideas of the potential benefits of volunteering that motivated initial involvement were clarified as volunteers gained experience of participating in the enterprise. There was overt recognition of skill development and growth in self‐esteem and confidence that had been gained during the first few months of working on the project and there was anticipation that these would be enhanced through ongoing involvement. The implications of these findings are discussed and some future research directions are proposed. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

The relationship between Arab values and work beliefs: An exploratory examination

In this study, 365 employees from three Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman) are queried about their cultural values and work‐related beliefs. This analysis is unique both in its sample and its focus on the relationship between individual cultural values and beliefs about work. Results suggest that the cultural value dimensions individualism (p < .001) and masculinity (p < .001) are related to both an individual's beliefs about organizational commitment and work ethic. Additional findings reveal patterns between cultural values and humanistic and political beliefs. Future research directions and managerial implications are also discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The GCC’s Fixed Exchange Rate: A Major Anomaly for OCA Analysis

From the standpoint of traditional optimal currency area (OCA) analysis, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are a major anomaly. They successfully maintained pegged exchange rates among themselves for two decades while failing to meet a number of major OCA criteria. Contrary to the optimistic predictions of some of the most enthusiastic advocates of endogenous OCA analysis, intra‐regional trade has remained low and there is little synchronisation of their business cycles or harmonisation of their fiscal positions. We argue that their success in operating a fixed rate regime has been due to a combination of high oil revenue, the heavy use of foreign workers and the limited extent to which their economies rely on market forces. These are conditions that are not met by most other countries.     

Understanding self‐initiated expatriates: Career experiences of Lebanese self‐initiated expatriates in France

Drawing on a field study based on interviews with 43 Lebanese skilled self‐initiated expatriates from the Paris region in France and six policymakers and immigration specialists, the article offers an alternative to theories of management that frame expatriate careers as either organizationally or individually driven. In doing so, we explicate how the international work experiences of self‐initiated expatriates can be captured in ways true to their nature as multifaceted and multilevel phenomena. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.