David Komlos and David Benjamin
When confronted by high-stakes challenges that require a change of course leaders need fast, high-quality decisions and genuine team alignment on the path forward. To address this…
Abstract
Purpose
When confronted by high-stakes challenges that require a change of course leaders need fast, high-quality decisions and genuine team alignment on the path forward. To address this problem, we offer an experience-tested framework for confronting defining moments of high complexity, low clarity and weak alignment.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is based on four key principles: a unifying goal, a requisite variety of people, a group-wide communication network that connects everyone on the team, repeated, high-quality collision.
Findings
Collisions among knowledgeable team members are what produce a solution and buy-in. They are what surfaces relevant understanding about how potential actions are connected.
Practical implications
For effective teams, identify those directly affected by the challenge, those with relevant experiences or specialist know-how and those who will ultimately own and execute solutions.
Originality/value
This step-by-step process guide will be useful to leaders needing to course correct while trying to digitize, merge, turn around, grow, deliver a leading-edge customer experience or during a myriad of other complex pursuits. The high-stakes nature of these challenges becomes apparent when leaders realize that their team’s current course and speed is not going to deliver the needed results and intended impact soon enough or, worse, not at all.
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Bernard Harris, Roderick Floud and Sok Chul Hong
In The Changing Body (Cambridge University Press and NBER, 2011), we presented a series of estimates showing the number of calories available for human consumption in England and…
Abstract
In The Changing Body (Cambridge University Press and NBER, 2011), we presented a series of estimates showing the number of calories available for human consumption in England and Wales at various points in time between 1700 and 1909/1913. We now seek to correct an error in our original figures and to compare the corrected figures with those published by a range of other authors. We also include new estimates showing the calorific value of meat and grains imported from Ireland. Disagreements with other authors reflect differences over a number of issues, including the amount of land under cultivation, the extraction and wastage rates for cereals and pulses and the number of animals supplying meat and dairy products. We consider recent attempts to achieve a compromise between these estimates and challenge claims that there was a dramatic reduction in either food availability or the average height of birth cohorts in the late-eighteenth century.
Howard Bodenhorn, Timothy W. Guinnane and Thomas A. Mroz
Long-run changes in living standards occupy an important place in development and growth economics, as well as in economic history. An extensive literature uses heights to study…
Abstract
Long-run changes in living standards occupy an important place in development and growth economics, as well as in economic history. An extensive literature uses heights to study historical living standards. Most historical heights data, however, come from selected subpopulations such as volunteer soldiers, raising concerns about the role of selection bias in these results. Variations in sample mean heights can reflect selection rather than changes in population heights. A Roy-style model of the decision to join the military formalizes the selection problem. Simulations show that even modest differential rewards to the civilian sector produce a military heights sample that is significantly shorter than the cohort from which it is drawn. Monte Carlos show that diagnostics based on departure from the normal distribution have little power to detect selection. To detect height-related selection, we develop a simple, robust diagnostic based on differential selection by age at recruitment. A companion paper (H. Bodenhorn, T. Guinnane, and T. Mroz, 2017) uses this diagnostic to show that the selection problems affect important results in the historical heights literature.
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This study aims to consider the nineteenth century relationship between biological markers and employment. This relationship is also considered for different occupations and by…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to consider the nineteenth century relationship between biological markers and employment. This relationship is also considered for different occupations and by race.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a large source of nineteenth century Texas state prison records, regression models illustrate the relationships between stature, body mass index (BMI), other observable characteristics and employment outcomes.
Findings
Among the nineteenth century Texas working class, stature and BMIs were not significant in the decision to participate in the southwest's labor market but were significant in Texas occupation selection. The probability of being farmers and unskilled workers were comparable by race. However, whites had easier access to white‐collar and skilled occupations.
Practical implications
Relationships between stature and BMI in developing countries may not be related to the decision to work; however, a relationship between these biological markers and occupation selection may exist.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few that consider the relationship between biological markers and employment outcomes. By considering the relationship between stature, BMI, and employment outcomes as the US economy develops, inferences can be drawn for the health and employment relationship in developing economies.
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In this chapter, network analysis has been used to map out disciplinary areas of research and authorship in economic history. A total of 5,330 peer-reviewed articles published in…
Abstract
In this chapter, network analysis has been used to map out disciplinary areas of research and authorship in economic history. A total of 5,330 peer-reviewed articles published in the leading economic history journals has been surveyed. Since 1980, the number of publications has risen and then rapidly accelerated over the last 2 decades. This rise has been fueled by research being conducted within European universities instead of US or UK ones.
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The transition from graduate student to new faculty member can be an exciting and challenging period in an academic career. New faculty members must successfully balance service…
Abstract
The transition from graduate student to new faculty member can be an exciting and challenging period in an academic career. New faculty members must successfully balance service obligations, research demands, and teaching responsibilities. Numerous guides have been developed to assist new faculty members in developing their careers. This selective bibliography identifies sources that can assist both graduate students and new faculty members as they develop their academic career.