Interindustry differences in advertising in U.S. manufacturing: 1963–1977

Although there has been substantial research on the nature of the advertising-concentration relationship, there has been virtually no systematic investigation of the intertemporal stability of that relationship. The purpose of this study is not only to determine whether concentration has a linear or non-linear effect on advertising but also if this effect is stable over the 1963–1977 period. A consistent model and sample are maintained over the entire time period which eliminates the possibility that any differences in empirical results over time are due to differences in either the sample or model used in the analysis. The major findings are that the magnitude of the effect of concentration on advertising intensities has, in general, been stable over time and that the relationship has been quadratic in nature.     

The T-Group: Short cut or short circuit?

T-group or sensitivity training has become popular in recent years. A T -group includes eight to twelve people and a qualified leader; its purpose can be to provide therapy or to promote personal improvement or organization development. Beset by organizational problems, some top executives have instituted T-groups, thinking they may be a panacea. In some cases this approach has improved morale and even increased productivity. In other cases the hierarchical structure of the company has been damaged, economic gain has been condemned, and profits have been affected. T-groups can have a useful role if top management rationally decides the proper ends and means for this powerful tool.     

The wheat trap: Bread and underdevelopment in Nigeria by Gunilla Andrae and Björn Beckman Zed Books, London, UK in association with the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden, 1985, 180pp

Dambos are seasonally waterlogged areas found in the headwater zones of drainage systems or alongside streams. Their importance lies in the fact that they are widespread, and can provide grazing in the dry season as well as being moist enough to grow dry season crops without irrigation. In addition, it may be possible to use them in small-scale irrigation schemes. The author feels that their value in savanna areas is severely underrated.     

The Relationship Between Project Success and Project Efficiency

Many researchers have suggested that meeting time, scope, and budget goals, sometimes called ‘project efficiency,’ is not the comprehensive measure of project success. Broader measures of success have been recommended; however, to date, nobody has determined empirically the relationship between efficiency and overall success or indeed shown whether efficiency is important at all to overall project success. Our aim in this article is to correct that omission. Through a survey of 1,386 projects we have shown that project efficiency correlates moderately strongly to overall project success (correlation of 0.6 and R² of 0.36). Efficiency is shown through analysis to be neither the only aspect of project success nor an aspect of project success that can be ignored.     

A social welfare function characterizing competitive equilibria of incomplete financial markets

A classic characterization of competitive equilibria views them as feasible allocations maximizing a weighted sum of utilities. It has been applied to establish fundamental properties of the equilibrium notion, such as existence, determinacy, and computability. However, it fails for economies with missing financial markets.We give such a characterization for economies with a single commodity and missing financial markets, by an amended social welfare function. Its parameters capture both the relative importance of households welfare, through the classic welfare weights, as well as the disagreements among them as to the value of the missing markets.As a by-product, we identify the dimension of the set of interior equilibrium allocations.     

Multinationals and human resource practices in Ireland: a rejection of the 'new conformance thesis': a reply

This paper reports on a study of 398 people employed in two UK service organizations: a hospital and two divisions of a high street bank. The main purpose of the study was to determine the degree to which dispositional factors (predisposition to trust and trait anxiety) and situational factors (seven aspects of the job environment) predicted a person's reported trust in their managers. Two types of managers were investigated: a person's immediate line manager and ‘senior managers in their industry’. It was hypothesized that the dispositional factors would have a greater influence on trust in managers in the industry and that situational factors would have a greater influence on trust in one's immediate line manager. The first hypothesis was supported, but the second was not. It was found that trust in both types of managers was best predicted by a combination of general disposition to trust (not trait anxiety) and situational factors: five of the seven situational factors had a role in predicting intention to trust. This reflects the complexity involved in predicting trust at work and the managerial challenge of creating a trusting culture.