The Authority Attainment of Women: Competitive Sector Effects

A bstract . Women receive better returns than men in authority in the competitive sector of the economy, all else being equal (including gender-type of occupation and firm size). This finding supports a hypothesis drawn from organizations theory and Becker (1971) (1957). In addition, this analysis shows that while differences in education and hours worked per week do help explain the gender difference in authority in the workplace , gender differences in domestic responsibilities have little direct effect on authority attainment.     

Design of MySuper default funds: influences and outcomes

We interview Australian fund executives about how their organisations responded to MySuper, a regulatory framework for default retirement savings funds that providers were required to have in place by the beginning of 2014. We provide an account of the influences on MySuper product design. Our analysis generates insight into how fund providers balanced their perceptions of the needs of default fund members against business considerations. Differences in member bases and organisational circumstances across funds are found to lead to considerable variation in default fund design.     

Easy-Come-Easy-Go: Moral Hazard in the Context of Return to Education

This empirical study advances the understanding of the theory of investment in human capital by outlining limitations to its applicability in the context of return to education. The study uses the concept of moral hazard to examine circumstances when financial support for education purpose generates less desirable post-graduation incomes. This study explores the relationship between financial support and post-graduation incomes using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation that is designed to measure the economic situation of individuals. Results suggest that students are less likely to engage in moral hazardous behavior to the degree to which they are older and to the degree to which they receive costlier financial assistance.     

Are consumers with disabilities receiving the services they need?

People with disabilities in the U.S. command a buying power of $220 billion. This study combines service quality theory and disability orientation theory to focus on perceived service quality for this segment, with attribution theory providing a connecting framework. The results show that there is much room for improvement. A survey among people with disabilities reveals that retailers are rated lower on accessibility than on traditional service quality dimensions. Furthermore, feelings of disability pride and social activism (mediated by a sense of exclusion) significantly affect ratings of accessibility. Service “intangibles” such as assurance and empathy have the greatest positive effect on service quality ratings, which in turn significantly affect purchase intention (mediated by customer satisfaction). Implications and research issues are discussed.     

Listening to your customers: The impact of perceived salesperson listening behavior on relationship outcomes

A thorough understanding of how businesses gain and maintain long-term relationships with clients is critical in today’s environment. This study develops a scale for salesperson listening behavior and investigates the impact of customers’ perceptions of salespeople’s listening behavior on trust, satisfaction, and anticipation of future interaction. A structural equations model is developed and empirically tested using a sample of new car buyers. The research results suggest that listening is a higher-order construct composed of three dimensions: (a) sensing, (b) evaluating, and (c) responding. When customers perceive a high level of listening behavior by a salesperson, it enhances their trust in the salesperson and leads to greater anticipation of future interaction. Implications and future research issues are discussed. Her research interests include measurement issues, buyer-seller relationships, sales technology, and creativity. She has published inJournal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and various other journals and proceedings. His research interests include issues in personal selling, sales management, and channels of distribution. He has published inEuropean Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Retailing, Psychology and Marketing, and various conference proceedings.     

The Future of Japanese Manufacturing in the UK

The expansion of Japanese FDI into the UK manufacturing sector during the 1980s and early 1990s gave rise to the debate on the Japanization of British industry. The paper argues that this debate was constructed from a Western perspective. It did not locate the strategies and structures of Japanese subsidiaries within the broader context of how Japanese multinational corporations were evolving in this period. The necessity to look at these issues from a more global perspective is reinforced by the changes which have occurred since the mid 1990s in the environment for Japanese multinationals. The global economy offers more choices to firms about their location as well as facing them with a more competitive environment. In the Japanese case, this is leading to a growing differentiation between standardized mass production (which can be located in Asia and Eastern Europe) and science–led sectors of industrial production (which necessitate location near to centres of research and development expertise in the USA and Europe). This means that Japanese firms are reconsidering the strategy and structure of their subsidiaries in the UK. Standardized mass production will only survive in the UK as long as costs can be pushed further down and productivity increased, both of which are difficult conditions to meet given possibilities elsewhere in the world for cheap mass production. The growing area of investment will be in science–based manufacturing, though here the UK will be competing against the USA and Germany for Japanese investment. Here, however, the organizational and management characteristics of Japanese subsidiaries will make the necessary connections with local managers and local networks of expertise difficult to achieve. Thus Japanese subsidiaries in the UK are in a period of prolonged uncertainty about their role in the future. These changes open up the necessity for a new agenda of research which goes beyond the Japanization approach and is concerned with the organization and management of Japanese multinationals in an era of global competition.     

A multiple time-series analysis of labor supply and earnings in economic development

Using multivariate time-series techniques, the dynamics of male and female labor supply and earnings in Puerto Rico are examined during a period of rapid economic developemnt, 1953–1978. The temporal analysis suggests that aggregate male and female labor force participation rates are exogenous to male and female earnings. In addition, continous declines in male participation have been partly responsible for increases in both male and female earnings and a narrowing of relative earnings differentials. The study also finds that the advent of the Food Stamp Program in 1975 has resulted in a small reduction in male labor force participation. Moreover, the inclusion of food stamps as an intervention component is quite useful in forecasting the male participation rate. The forecasting accuracy of univariate and multivariate models is assessed with the result that, in every instance, the multivariate transfer functions prove superior. Overall, the results support the incorporation of multiple time-series in econometric studies of developing countries and provide evidence of its usefullness for development planning and policy.     

On the rim of inspiration: performance of AWF tourism enterprises in Botswana and Rwanda

Community-based natural resource management approaches including joint venture partnerships provide opportunities to achieve biodiversity conservation and associated tourism development. The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) conservation enterprise model aims to improve the quality of life of communities and promote positive local attitudes towards conservation, and has been used to establish conservation lodges. To date, there has been no assessment of the performance of the conservation lodges in relation to this aim. This study used two case study AWF-initiated conservation lodges in Rwanda and Botswana to assess the performance of these conservation enterprises. The study adopted one-on-one structured questionnaire interviews with lodge staff and community residents. Analysis of economic and social performance and attitudes to conservation indicates that rural communities within the vicinity of the conservation lodges are generally benefitting from the existence of the lodges and associated tourism activity although to varying degrees, as well as promoting positive conservation attitudes among the community.