Keeping Work in Perspective: Work–Nonwork Considerations and Applicant Decision Making

The work–nonwork supportiveness of an organization may influence applicant decision making among young applicants. This possibility was tested using a phased narrowing decision making task and three organizational attributes (salary, number of work–nonwork supportive policies/benefits and their related culture supportiveness). Data gathered from a sample of 110 graduating college business majors partially supported the hypotheses (p < 0.05), revealing a dynamic influence of the organizational attributes across decision making stages and a differential impact of the attributes depending on their framing as family-friendly or life-friendly. Salary was especially important in initial screening of organizational options, and the organizational culture support of work–nonwork challenges was increasingly influential as the final choice was formed. Implications for young applicant attraction are discussed. The research presented here (a portion of the author’s master’s thesis at Bowling Green State University) was presented at the 2006 Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in Dallas, TX. Thanks go to Dr. Steve M. Jex, Dr. Scott Highhouse, and Dr. Cathy Stein for their assistance in the development of this study. Thanks are also owed to Dr. Michael Doherty for his thoughtful comments on an earlier draft.     

Analysis for radical design

This paper examines a technique suitable for monitoring and analyzing systemic change in technology. Technological changes increasingly stem from the novel recombination of existing technologies. Changes are multitudinous. Therefore, new techniques are needed for analyzing technology architecture. A literature review of related work in the field of technology opportunities analysis is presented. We consider a possible, radically decentralized context for the conduct of future design. A case study of new technology architecture in the information technology domain is presented. An analytical method involving mining weighted graphs from technology archives is presented. The role of this new method in a context of distributed decision-making and design is presented.     

Empowerment: the power to do what?

Given the widespread introduction of empowerment within the UK, this article examines meanings of the concept and the implementation of specific initiatives. From a study of thirteen organisations it is suggested empowerment has limitations and tensions including little power dissemination, close control over employees, poor prospects of extra remuneration and job insecurity.     

The Distribution of Income Shocks during Crises: An Application of Quantile Analysis to Mexico, 1992-95

Moving beyond the simple comparisons of averages typical ofmost analyses of household income shocks, this article employsquantile analysis to generate a complete distribution of suchshocks by type of household during the 1995 crisis in Mexico.It compares the distributions across normal and crisis periodsto see whether observed differences were due to the crisis orare intrinsic to the household types. Alternatively, it askswhether the distribution of shocks during normal periods wasa reasonable predictor of vulnerability to income shocks duringcrises. It finds large differences in the distribution of shocksby household types both before and during the crisis but littlechange in their relative positions during the crisis. The impactappears to have been spread fairly evenly. Households headedby people with less education (poor), single mothers, or peopleworking in the informal sector do not appear to experience disproportionateincome drops either in normal times or during crises.     

Bank service quality: A comparison between a publicly quoted bank and a government bank in Singapore

This study, conducted in Singapore, investigates three aspects of service quality. The study samples customers of two specific banks, one of which is publicly quoted and one of which is government owned. For comparative purposes, five service quality dimensions, which the authors created, were used. The results showed that consumer expectations about an excellent bank's service quality were not significantly different as between the publicly quoted bank and the government bank. The perceptions that consumers had about the service quality of the bank they patronised, though, showed some significant differences. The publicly quoted bank was perceived as having a significantly better ‘services portfolio’, specifically in regard to making customers aware of its services and offering a variety of services through its ATMs. The government bank was perceived as having better ‘staff who deliver the service’, specifically in the way the staff dressed and the efficiency with which they served customers. The five service quality dimensions were found to have better predictive capabilities for the measurement of the overall satisfaction of customers who patronised the government bank.     

Estimating the marginal contribution of adjustable-rate mortgage selection to termination probabilities in a nested model

In this study we measure the marginal contribution of ARMs to termination probabilities. To do this we develop a modified nested-logit model of mortgage selection and termination and identify the role of risk aversity in the selection process. Simulations of termination probabilities under different economic scenarios indicate how ARMs decrease overall portfolio risk through declines in prepayment probabilities which more than offset the increases in default probabilities associated with them.     

Exploring the effectiveness of research and innovation policies among European Union countries

In this paper we explore the effectiveness of selected research and innovation policies among EU countries. Using data from the AEGIS database and information from the 2015 Bruegel’s Partnership report on research and innovation polices in EU countries, we compare and contrast the response of knowledge intensive firms to a sample of policies. We find that the impact of the policies in our sample varies not only across countries but also across the age of affected firms in those countries. We conclude our analysis with a call for policy makers to begin to investigate the incidence of the impact of their research and innovation policies as measured not only by the age of firms but also by other dimensions.