Reversible Relationship between Quantitative and Qualitative Data in Self-Consciousness Research: A Normative Semiotic Model for the Phenomenological Dialogue between Data and Capta

The aim of this study was to explore modes of integration of quantitative and qualitative data to verify existence of psychological constructs. Data obtained with a Likert-type rating scale and with narrative accounts of significant life-events were compared and integrated via logical analysis to examine the psychological construct of self-consciousness. Undergraduates between 17 and 32 years of age (78 females and 23 males) participated. Psychometric analysis of the scale classified the subjects focus of self-consciousness (public and private) into three levels: high, average or low. Independent judges evaluated self-consciousness profiles from the narrative accounts. Analysis verified the compatibility between self-consciousness scale measurements and self-consciousness profiles on narrative accounts. The results illustrate possibilities for and limitations of such comparisons, and also suggest criteria for comparing the same phenomenon in different contexts. Guidelines for choice of instrumentation in gathering data for research and practice are also presented.     

Is success a sin? A conversation with the reverend Peter J. Gomes. Interview by David A. Light

The difficult task of achieving worldly success while also storing up spiritual treasure is perennially with us, in good times and in bad. Today, however, as the economy has cooled and companies have demonstrated their mortality, questions about meaning and value appear more relevant, even urgent. HBR associate editor David A. Light recently spoke with the Reverend Peter J. Gomes, one of the nation's best-known preachers and the minister at Harvard University's Memorial Church, about why and how it is both possible and necessary to reconcile a life of success with a life of faith. To do so, says Gomes, you must first "get used to it"--come to terms with the age-old tension between being rich in spirit and rich in worldly goods. Second, you should "get over it"--arrive at an understanding of the value and responsibilities associated with power and wealth. Finally, "get on with it"--figure out how you can live your life spiritually while continuing to lead in the business world. For those wondering how to get on with spiritual development, Gomes cites the growing phenomenon of senior executives gathering with peers--out of shared need, not shared accomplishment--to pray, study sacred texts, and share their religious life together. He counsels that it's never too late to get on with it: We can amend life at any time, whether we're 35, 45, or 75. Gomes concludes that business will continue to be one of the most significant forces in American culture, but it will always struggle against people's need for a perspective that is beyond this world's.     

Valuations and dynamics of negotiations

This paper analyzes three‐party negotiations in the presence of externalities. We obtain a closed‐form solution for the Markov perfect equilibrium of a multilateral non‐cooperative bargaining model, yielding an equilibrium value and dynamics of negotiations that are supported by experimental studies. Players’ values are monotonically increasing (or decreasing) in the amount of negative (or positive) externalities that they impose on others. Moreover, players’ values are continuous and piecewise linear on the worth of bilateral coalitions, and are inextricably related to their negotiation strategies: the equilibrium value is the Nash bargaining solution when no bilateral coalitions form; the Shapley value when all bilateral coalitions form; or the nucleolus, when either one bilateral coalition among “natural partners” or two bilateral coalitions including a “pivotal player” form.     

Unobserved Heterogeneity,Exit Rates,and Re‐Employment Wages

Exit rates from unemployment and re‐employment wages decline over a period of unemployment, after controlling for worker observable characteristics. We study the role of unobserved heterogeneity in an economy with asymmetric information and directed search. We show that the unique equilibrium is separating and that skilled workers have more job opportunities and higher wages. The composition of the unemployed varies with the duration of unemployment, so average exit rates and wages fall with time. The separating equilibrium relies on performance‐related pay schemes and the ability of firms to commit to renting an input that is complementary to worker skills.     

Heterogeneous wage setting and endogenous macro volatility

In order to strengthen the debate on the foundations of aggregate business cycles, the science of macroeconomics has recently benefited from a series of contributions that emphasize the complex nature of collective human action. Progressively, agent heterogeneity, local interaction, sentiment formation and out-of-equilibrium dynamics are becoming central pieces on the analysis of short-term business fluctuations. This paper offers a contribution to this new literature by exploring a macro framework where endogenous fluctuations emerge regardless from the occurrence of shocks to technology or preferences. The proposed setting separates firms into two groups, which follow different wage setting strategies. The firms may systematically change from one class of wage setters to the other following local interaction rules and by making a global assessment of the profitability of each of the wage setting alternatives. Under reasonable parameterizations, long-term large periodicity cycles are generated; these cycles might constitute a meaningful component of the observed output gap and price level volatility, a component that complements the typical view on exogenous disturbances over an otherwise stable economy.     

Reviewing and improving performance measurement systems: An action research

Reviewing and updating performance measurement systems (PMS) based on internal and external environmental changes are as important as developing and implementing them. The results of an action research study carried out to improve the PMS of an energy company's maritime transportation area are presented. The findings of this longitudinal study illustrate the difficulty and complexity of reviewing and updating an energy company's PMS for its maritime transportation area. This difficulty is due to the involvement of PMS users, the assessment of performance measures, the establishment of targets, and data availability. The complexity is related to the changes in information technology when implementing changes in procedures for computing performance measures. This article contributes to a better understanding of the process of reviewing and updating a company's existing PMS.     

Climate perceptions and the customer orientation of frontline service employees

Satisfaction of customers' needs is particularly dependent upon the customer orientation of frontline employees. Understanding the drivers of such orientation is, therefore, a key issue in current research. Research relating perceptions of organisational values with the customer orientation of employees is rather sparse. This topic is approached by investigating the role of selected dimensions of psychological climate in promoting the customer orientation of frontline service employees. A structural equations model is developed and empirically tested, indicating that perceptions of customer, ethical, and innovation climates exert an indirect effect on the adoption of customer-oriented behaviours by frontline employees.     

Role of education and extension in the adoption of technology: a study of upland rice and soybean farmers in Central-West Brazil

This paper explores reduced form determinants of the adoption of certain technologies by upland rice and soybean farmers in the Center-West region of Brazil. We merge community level data on the availability and quality of publicly provided infrastructure, principally extension, to the farm level data containing information on farmer human capital as well as land quantity and quality. By using community level measures of availability and quality of extension, we avoid problems of endogeneity of farm level measures of extension use. We find positive impacts of farmer education on the diffusion process, in accordance with other studies. We also isolate effects of the quality in regional extension investment as measured by the average experience of technical extension staff. These results indicate that investments in human capital of extension workers does have a payoff in terms of farmer adoption of improved cultivation practices.     

Friending the taxman: On the use of social networking services for government eID in Europe

The provision of identities online continues to be a fiercely debated topic in policy circles, with proposals emerging for public sector organizations to leverage pre-existing social networking services for their own identity management purposes. Within the broader context of private sector organizations springing up as identity providers, this article explores — from a socio-legal perspective — the merits and drawbacks of using social networking services for government eID in Europe. It then reviews the present and future European policy environment concerning official use of social networking credentials. We focus specifically on legislative measures currently being proposed in the EU to facilitate the Identification, Authentication and Signature policy, within the scope of the ongoing Electronic Signatures Directive revision process and the launch of the proposed Electronic Trust Services Regulation.