The Social Dimension of Organizations: Recent experiences with Great Place to Work<Superscript>®</Superscript> assessment practices

This paper elaborates on conceptual, empirical and practical arguments why corporations need to focus on their social dimensions, in order to further enhance organizational performance. The paper starts with an introduction on the general trend towards inclusiveness and connectedness. It then elaborates on the phase-wise development of cultures and organizational structures. Managing corporate improvement by building cultures of trust is the central focus of this contribution. By showing the cultural dimensions of Great Places to Work and their workplace practices, worthwhile experiences leading to organizational improvement and superior financial performance are demonstrated.     

Global–local relationships and governance issues at the Great Wall World Heritage Site,China

Heritage preservation and tourism use are inevitably intertwined at heritage sites and are characterized by both symbioses and tensions, particularly at World Heritage Sites, where international initiatives interact with local priorities. The international designation impacts heritage preservation, tourism development and community well-being at the local level, especially in developing countries. This paper examines global–local relationships, as well as involvement and governance at intermediate scales, and their implications for preservation and development at Badaling Great Wall World Heritage Site in Beijing, China, through examinations of its management structure, heritage preservation and development plans, and the opinions of the local business community. Interviews were conducted with key officials of the Management Office and questionnaire surveys were distributed with local business operators. It is shown that multiple stakeholders operate in a hierarchical, multi-departmental management structure. International linkages are weak and via central government. Positive economic impacts from tourism are highly valued. High awareness of heritage preservation and positive attitudes toward tourism are identified among local business operators with relatively high tolerance for negative environmental impacts. Potential conflicts between global priorities by World Heritage designation and local needs for tourism development are illustrated. Practical implications for heritage and tourism planning and management are discussed.     

The ‘layering’ of management in post-war Britain: The case of the Office Management Association

The mid-twentieth century saw the creation of layers of managerial jobs in Britain. The increasing numbers of managers and a persistent degree of social closure at the top of organisational hierarchies led groups of managers to try to define specialist management functions as justification for holding organisational power. The Office Management Association was one such group. It promoted office managers’ expertise in the efficient running of the administrative side ofenterprises as a specialist managerial function worthy of a high place in managerial hierarchies. But specialisation was also fragmentation that would weaken the entire occupational group of all managers.     

The great moderation in micro labor earnings

Between 1980 and the early 1990s the variability of labor earnings growth rates across the prime-age working population fell significantly. This decline and timing are consistent with other macro and micro observations about growth variability that are collectively referred to as the “Great Moderation.” The variability of earnings growth is negatively correlated with age at any point in time, and the U.S. working age population got older during this period because the Baby Boom was aging. However, the decrease in variability was roughly uniform across all age groups, so population aging is not the source of the overall decline. The variance of log changes also declined at multi-year frequencies in such a way as to suggest that both permanent and transitory components of earnings shocks became more moderate. A simple identification strategy for separating age and cohort effects shows a very intuitive pattern of permanent and transitory shocks over the life cycle, and confirms that a shift over time in the stochastic process occurred even after controlling for age effects.     

Do chairmen with China's Great Famine experience in early-life affect firm tax avoidance activities?

This article investigates whether and how chairmen with China's Great Famine experience affect firm tax avoidance activities. We find that the chairmen who experienced China's Great Famine in early-life engage in fewer tax avoidance activities than other chairmen. This effect is stronger for firms in regions with a weak gambling culture and provinces with higher political uncertainty, nonstate-owned firms, and chairmen with higher education. We show that a lower-level risk appetite among chairmen is the primary mechanism driving lower tax avoidance in their firms. Our article provides new insights into the differences in tax avoidance between firms based on whether managers experienced the Great Famine.     

Place Meanings Ascribed to Marine Settings: The Case of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Using data collected from in-depth interviews of recreational visitors to Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, place-related meanings ascribed to a marine environment are described. The usefulness of using symbolic interactionism to understand the creation of these meanings is also assessed. Ten meaning-themes emerged (aesthetic beauty, lack of built infrastructure/pristine environment, abundance and diversity of coral and other wildlife, unique natural resource, facilitation of desired recreation activity, safety and accessibility, curiosity and exploration, sense of connection to the natural world, escape from the everyday, and experiences with family and friends), and evidence supporting the utility of symbolic interactionism was identified. Using these findings, researchers may be better able to identify place meanings and the processes that create them.