Search results

This paper outlines 4 assumptions behind attempts to explain the sequential organization of communication behavior during conflict. These assumptions were supported by an analysis of behavioral sequences coded from 9 hostage negotiations and 20 divorce mediations. Analyses showed that negotiators use only a small proportion of available responses to other party's behavior, and that this proportion rapidly decreases as sequence length increases. Critical to this channeling in behavior was the triple‐interact (i.e., cue‐response‐cue‐response), which represents the maximum sequence length required to enable accurate prediction of negotiators' future behavior. More detailed analysis showed that the triple‐interact reduced uncertainty in behavior by over 70%, which compares to less than 1% from knowledge of negotiation context and approximately 10% from knowledge of individual differences.

Describes the use of safety attitudes as the basis for an intervention to improve safety performance in a power generation company. Following an initial survey using the safety attitude questionnaire developed by the SRU, a set of initiatives was developed. The initiatives included setting up safety teams, the introduction of written action plans, the provision of workforce safety budgets and an enhanced profile for management action. The initiatives were implemented by the SRU over a period of one year. Following the intervention there were improvements in safety attitude, lost time accident rates, self‐reported accident rates and absenteeism levels.

Undertakes a pilot study, the results of which are reported here, into the degree to which marketing techniques are being applied in the local authority sports/leisure centre situations in the UK. Details the use of a questionnaire which focused attention on both marketing tools and major aspects of marketing philosophy. Finds evidence of marketing thinking having penetrated various organisational areas. Concludes that the study may have been of a pilot nature but there is evidence so far at least of marketing thinking being applied under one or more of the topic areas included in the questionnaire.

To compare the experience of occupational stress across a large and diverse set of occupations. Three stress related variables (psychological well‐being, physical health and job satisfaction) are discussed and comparisons are made between 26 different occupations on each of these measures. The relationship between physical and psychological stress and job satisfaction at an occupational level is also explored.Design/methodology/approach – The measurement tool used is a short stress evaluation tool which provides information on a number of work related stressors and stress outcomes. Out of the full ASSET database 26 occupations were selected for inclusion in this paper.Findings – Six occupations are reporting worse than average scores on each of the factors – physical health, psychological well‐being and job satisfaction (ambulance workers, teachers, social services, customer services – call centres, prison officers and police). Differences across and within occupational groups, for example, teaching and policing, are detailed. The high emotional labour associated with the high stress jobs is discussed as a potential causal factor.Research limitations/implications – This is not an exhaustive list of occupations and only concerns employees working within the UK.Originality/value – There is little information available that shows the relative values of stress across different occupations, which would enable the direct comparison of stress levels. This paper reports the rank order of 26 different occupations on stress and job satisfaction levels.

The purpose of the paper is to describe and evaluate the changes in the content of the marketing theory course at Wharton 50 years ago, taught by Reavis Cox, as a result of the insertion of Wroe Alderson's book Marketing Behaviour and Executive Action.

The paper presents a personal experience of taking the course before the insertion of Alderson's book and a review of the revised course outline.

The course content moved away from a broader philosophically based marketing systems course linked to ideas from other disciplines, to one focused on marketing management.

The period in question is an important turning point in the way marketing theory was taught and developed that influenced future development of the discipline in ways that narrowed its focus and limited its contribution.

Interest in developing institutional explanations of political and economic behavior has blossomed among social scientists since the early 1980s. Three intellectual perspectives are now prevalent: rational choice theory, historical institutionalism and a new school of organizational analysis. This paper summarizes, compares and contrasts these views and suggests ways in which cross‐fertilization may be achieved. Particular attention is paid to how the insights of organizational analysis and historical institutionalism can be blended to provide fruitful avenues of research and theorizing, especially with regard to the production, adoption, and mobilization of ideas by decision makers.

This paper gives a comparative analysis of the foundation of sinology in two Canadian universities. Despite not having diplomatic exchanges, Canada's new relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC) ignited a China interest in the Canadian academe. Through York University and the University of Guelph (U of G)'s experiences, readers will learn the rewards and challenges that sinology brings to Canadian higher education.

This paper offers an overview of the historical foundation of sinology in the Canadian academe. Who pushes through this process? What geopolitical developments triggered young and educated Canadians to learn about China? This paper assesses York and Guelph's process in introducing sinology by relying on university archival resources and personal interviews. Why was York University successful in its mission, which, in turn, made into a comprehensive East Asian Studies degree option in 1971? What obstacles did the U of G face that prohibited it from implementing China Studies successfully?

After 1949, Canada took a friendlier relationship with the PRC than its neighbor in the south. As China–Canada relations unfolded, Canadian witnessed a dramatic state investment in higher education. The 1960s was a decade of unprecedented university expansion. In the process, sinology enjoyed its significant growth, and both York University and the U of G made their full use of this right timing. However, China Studies at the U of G did not take off. Besides its geolocation disadvantage, Guelph's top-down managerial style in the 1960s, which resulted in collegial disillusionment, was also a significant barrier to this program's success.

Before the Internet age, universities were the first venues for most Canadians to acquire their initial academic knowledge of China. After the Second World War, sinology became popular among students as China became one of the world's “Big Fives”. More Canadians became romanticized with Maoism while opposing America's containment policy. York and Guelph exemplified this trend in Canadian history. Contrary to popular belief, historian Jerome Chen did not establish York's China Studies. Likewise, an ex-US diplomat John Melby did not bring China into Guelph, sinology arrived due to individual scholastic initiatives. Visionaries saw envisioned China's importance in the future world community.

East Sussex County Council has been invited to allow their Trading Standards Officer to help the European Commission implement the Official Control of Foodstuffs Directive. The author′s views on the Directive are presented.

Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a well understood, yet under-recognized, placental disease affecting any given pregnancy at a rate of 1 in 1,000. There is no clustering of TTTS; instead the threat remains pathologically distinctive due to its pervasiveness. However, while incidence rates are random, survival rates are not. Despite compliant acceptance of “routine prenatal care,” sadly, there are many women who for currently unknown reasons are not receiving the advanced prenatal care needed to appropriately screen for, diagnosis and treat TTTS. And these women are paying the ultimate price for such obstetrical oversight.

This study hypothesizes that differential care being given by primary obstetricians of TTTS patients is resulting in experienced inequalities. Utilizing social reproduction theory, and through ethnographic and quantitative analyses of primary data, this study seeks to divulge the complex social processes taking place (or failing to take place) within the world of American obstetrics, and begin to understand how they are affecting TTTS mortality and morbidity rates.

Findings illuminate a profound imbalance of power and influence amongst the following entities: American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine; obstetrical training and practice; and levels of patient awareness and advocacy.

This study argues that the current social relations being reproduced by these entities are perpetuating a climate that allows for disregard of proper TTTS management. Specifically, this study theoretically explores what social relations and subsequent (in)actions are being reproduced prior to TTTS diagnoses, and applies the effects of those observations.