Social cooperatives,social welfare associations and social networks

We use an original data-set to study how participation in two types of non-profit organizations – i.e. social welfare associations and social cooperatives – affects individual social capital, understood as a network of cooperative relationships. Participation in both the types of organization allows members to start new social relations. However, social welfare associations seem to play a significantly greater role in the development of volunteers’ social capital, favouring the creation of weak ties that are used to exchange information and advice, and offering the opportunity to establish stronger ties entailing concrete mutual support. Within social cooperatives, workers appear to develop their individual social capital to a greater extent than volunteers. Our results suggest that the composition of the workforce, the depth of members’ involvement in the organization’s activities and the human resources strategies adopted by the management influence the creation of cooperative relations through on-the-job interactions.     

关于社区民间组织建设的实践与思考——以宁波市江东区社区民间组织为案例

随着城市“单位人“向“社会人”的转变,社区逐渐成为社会管理的最基本单位。加强城市基层管理,推进社区建设,已成为构建和谐社会的重要内容。社区民间组织已成为构建和谐社区的重要力量。笔者通过对宁波市江东区社区民间组织的特点、数量、类型和社区民间组织在社区发展中发挥作用、当前存在的问题进行了调研、分析,并对如何加强社区民间组织发展提出了建议。     

基于农民异质性的土地流转、专业合作社与农业技术推广研究——以江苏泗阳县X镇为例

土地规模经营与农业先进技术的应用是推动我国农业可持续增长的重要因素。基于农民在经济和社会方面的异质性特点,通过分析江苏泗阳县X镇的案例,研究发现:将土地流转与农民专业合作社结合的模式,不仅可以缓解土地分散经营对农业规模效益的不利影响,而且可以使农民在互相信任的环境中通过"干中学"、接受集中培训等方式推广农业生产技术。因此,政府应推动土地流转并引导农民建立合作组织。     

心理所有权的非均衡发展及其影响效应研究

本文在组织心理所有权的基础上提出工作心理所有权,研究两者分别对组织行为的影响,以及两者之间的非均衡发展对组织行为的影响。经过理论分析和实证检验,本文认为,组织心理所有权和工作心理所有权都可以解释组织承诺、工作满意度、OCB和角色外行为等,但工作心理所有权的解释能力更强。心理所有权在组织和工作层面存在显著差异,呈现非均衡发展的现象。当心理所有权的这种非均衡发展超过一定限度之后,较强的工作心理所有权和较低的组织心理所有权降低了组织承诺和工作满意度,并对OCB和角色外行为产生不利影响。本文在这些研究的基础上,进一步解释了心理所有权"阴暗面"的产生机制,分析了可能产生的员工消极行为并提出了相应的对策建议。     

How did enterprise risk management first appear in the Korean public sector?

This research addresses the rise and fall of the Crisis Management Guideline of Public Organizations (CMGPO) from a historical perspective. In the Korean public sector, as a form of enterprise risk management (ERM), CMGPO is not designed to be merely a tool of financial risk management but also to be a policy tool for crisis management. CMGPO emerged within the conflict between integrated crisis management and dispersed crisis management. The purpose of CMGPO is to bureaucratically integrate the crisis management of public organizations with the governmental crisis management system. ERM as a form of self-regulation is entangled with the pre-existing command and control of the Korean government over integrated crisis management. As a result, CMGPO is characterized as ‘enforced self-regulation’ rather than self-regulation; this is a fundamental idea in ERM.     

Family Matters? Recruitment Methods and Cultural Boundaries in Singapore Chinese Small and Medium Enterprises

Singapore official discourse speaks of (Chinese) families as both cultural and economic assets and as vestiges of national identity. Chinese families are often described in traditional terms, namely as patrilinial, patrilocal, patriarchal and clearly hierarchical. In Singapore official discourse, the historical success of traditional family businesses is presented as a unique ethnic and national characteristic. Simultaneously, the Singapore state claims to be ‘modern’, ‘Western’, and ‘cosmopolitan’, allowing little space for ‘parochial practices’ and ‘archaic traditions’. Either praised or looked down on, family businesses occupy an ambiguous position within the ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ discourses of the Singapore state. This article supplies the evidence of changing family and business relations in Chinese–Singapore firms. Three major factors are isolated that influence Singapore attitudes towards family businesses: Chinese culture, globalization and the logic of developing capitalism, and the role of the Singapore state.     

Adoption and Implementation of Internal Marketing Systems by Ghanaian Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This paper explores the concept of internal marketing (IM) as an internal supportive system that could provide the infrastructure for a strategic business take-off. It investigates how IM, as a concept, is understood and made practical in the context of Ghanaian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This qualitative research method was used due to the nature of the enquiry. The government of Ghana is constantly searching for more effective ways of assisting SME performance, through various strategic growth and development schemes. Despite the fact that much has been said in the literature, the IM concept remains elusive. Most SMEs are not aware of IM and demonstrate little understanding of the concept. And SMEs have problems with the implementation of IM. The manufacturing sector demonstrates more IM orientation than does the service sector. This paper unravels sociocultural factors that frustrate the practice of IM among Ghanaian SMEs and calls for a greater awareness of the concept by stakeholders. Suggestions include more general business support for SMEs to improve performance and subsequently grow. The paper finishes by drawing attention to management implications within the practice of IM.     

农村合作金融结构中间业务发展的障碍与对策

农村金融市场存在着中间业务的需求,而农村合作金融结构独立开发中间业务存在着人才不足、网络技术落后等诸多能力的障碍与不足。在拥有市场资源优势的基础上,农村合作金融结构可以与大中型银行、保险公司以及基金公司等合作伙伴合作发展中间业务。农村合作金融结构需要把握目标客户的金融需求,熟悉中间业务产品,努力成为农村金融服务专家。     

Discerning competitive strategy through an assessment of competitive methods

This cross-sectional study of Portuguese service organizations seeks to determine the level of alignment of competitive methods with strategy typologies covered in the business literature. Surveyed firms were asked to indicate their level of utilization of several competitive methods. The results of factor analysis of the survey data indicate that 30 of the 33 competitive methods covered in this study represent seven underlying strategy dimensions. Further analysis revealed that there is some congruence between the derived strategy dimensions and established strategy typologies in the literature. Cluster analysis revealed that each of the responding firms could be classified into one of four hybrid or mixed strategy orientations. However, differences in strategy orientation were not statistically significant in explaining differences in the financial performance of these organizations. These findings are discussed in the light of their implications for strategy development, strategy choices and performance evaluation in the Portuguese service sector.     

Social responsibility in youth service organizations: Hong Kong evidence

The paper attempts to investigate the key factors affecting the social responsibility development in social welfare organizations. The study also measures how social welfare organizations are performing towards the social responsibility objectives. This paper focuses on a study undertaken among a number of youth service organizations in Hong Kong. The results showed that youth service organizations perceive they have supportive organizational culture and the management has been showing strong willingness in promoting social responsibility. The people from a senior level see that the motivating factors are more important than the junior people, but they perceive the ‘social pressure’ is less important than the junior people. The big contrast implies that the management people do not take ‘social pressure’ into serious consideration. The study reveals a significant influence from the management on the adoption and implementation of social responsibility activities. This further confirms the importance on promoting social responsibility at the operational level, with the top management providing clear strategic direction, and supportive resources and environment.