Hartmut Lehmann and Jonathan Wadsworth
Many developing and transition countries, and even some in the industrialized West, experience periods in which a substantial proportion of the workforce suffer wage arrears. We…
Abstract
Many developing and transition countries, and even some in the industrialized West, experience periods in which a substantial proportion of the workforce suffer wage arrears. We examine the implications for estimates of wage gaps and inequality using the Russian labor market as a test case. Wage inequality grew rapidly as did the incidence of wage arrears in Russia in the 1990s. Given data on wages and the incidence of wage arrears we construct counterfactual wage distributions, which give the distribution of pay were arrears not present. The results suggest that wage inequality could be some 30 percent lower in the absence of arrears. If individuals in arrears are distributed across the underlying wage distribution, as appears to be the case in Russia, we show that it may be feasible to use the wage distribution for the subset of those not in arrears to estimate the underlying population wage distribution parameters.
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the development and the structure of a new international master on the subject of urban quality development and management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the development and the structure of a new international master on the subject of urban quality development and management (UQDM), and explore the potential of the process and the outcome in serving as models adoptable by faculty at other universities.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has been carried out as action research. Using innovation and user‐producer interaction as the framework, the authors present the development process; the structure, contents and methodology of the programme; and report on their research findings.
Findings
UQDM is dependent on human resource development, institutionalised networks and confident exchange of knowledge, and must identify and incorporate multiple environmental, social, economic and cultural aspects. The authors find that at the core of innovative societies, an interlinkage exists between practice (business, civil society, governance) and theory (research, education). The case illustrates how a new curriculum takes time to develop and implement and how it relies on confidence and trust between partners, in this case cities and universities, before being able to plant the seed for a sustainable response to the needs of city administrations. University consortia may be particularly useful as providers of a broad framework and an enabling setting in which diffusion of innovation can occur.
Practical implications
The paper presents a successful approach to developing new curricula. Basing itself on user‐producer interaction within the framework of innovation and innovation theory, the programme addresses urban quality through a multi‐disciplinary and inter‐institutional collaboration between city administrations and universities. Per se, the approach is easily replicable but will require time, effort and dedication by all involved, both during development and in later execution.
Originality/value
The paper reports on a new, unique programme and further places the development of the curriculum and the curriculum itself explicitly in the context of user‐producer interaction and with innovation as the framework. While this framework is widely used both descriptively and prescriptively in product development, it has seemingly yet to be applied extensively for other types of developments, including university educations.
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School-wide positive behavior support (PBS) is a systems approach to prevention and intervention involving multiple levels of support. At the universal level (all students)…
Abstract
School-wide positive behavior support (PBS) is a systems approach to prevention and intervention involving multiple levels of support. At the universal level (all students), prevention of behavior problems involves four very basic steps that are repeated with smaller numbers of students and greater intensity as directed by data. The first step is the prediction of problems or failures. To the extent to which we can predict a problem by time, location, student, and other contexts, we have the information to prevent. Prediction leads directly into the second step, which involves the development of effective prevention practices. The key to effective prevention is to approach all problems from an instructional perspective by considering what needs to be taught and how the environment can be arranged to increase the probability of success. The third step involves creating consistency with prevention efforts. Instructional efforts that are inconsistent are not effective in teaching new behavior. The last step involves development of the simplest way of monitoring performance so that those students who are not responding (i.e., are falling through the screen) may be quickly identified. This chapter describes the key features of effective universal systems as they are specifically related to the prevention of behavior problems and provides an overview of how such systems are developed, implemented, and sustained.
This paper investigates the relationship between organizational structures and the performance of FORTUNE 500 companies, which have always been among the most profitable and…
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between organizational structures and the performance of FORTUNE 500 companies, which have always been among the most profitable and admired in the world. After a discussion of whether companies should organize regionally, nationally, or globally, the important assumption is made that each structural type utilizes resources differently in generating profit. Performance is conceptualized as Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) and Return per Employee (RpE). A sample of 50 companies was randomly selected. Testing revealed that structural types are positively related to financial performance, calculated as RoCE, with Multidivisional-structured companies outperforming Functional-structured ones; structural types are not related to human resource performance, calculated as RpE.
Kathleen L. Lane, E. Jemma Robertson and Marona Amandla Leaura Graham-Bailey
The issue of school violence and antisocial behavior in public schools is, in fact, one of the most pressing concerns in education today. Schools have responded by designing…
Abstract
The issue of school violence and antisocial behavior in public schools is, in fact, one of the most pressing concerns in education today. Schools have responded by designing, implementing, and evaluating multi-level models with progressively more intensive levels of support. The foundation of these models is the primary, or universal, prevention program. To date, most investigations have occurred in elementary schools thereby providing limited insight into intervening in secondary schools. This chapter reviews the literature base of school-wide interventions with primary level efforts conducted in secondary schools with an emphasis on methodological considerations. Content includes the findings of a systematic literature review, a discussion of quality indicators in relationship to primary prevention efforts, and recommendations for future inquiry.
Sudipta Ramola, Rajeev Kumar Srivastava and Padma Vasudevan
The energy demand of growing population is on rise despite the fact that conventional energy reserves are limited and exhaustive in nature. To quench the ever-needing demand of…
Abstract
Purpose
The energy demand of growing population is on rise despite the fact that conventional energy reserves are limited and exhaustive in nature. To quench the ever-needing demand of energy, there is an urgent need to find out new energy options. In this regard, role of bioenergy plantation has gained enormous attention of scientist community all over the world. Biochar, a black pyrolysed carbonaceous product, is used as soil amendment and is reported to provide several benefits such as retention of nutrients in soil, better cation exchange capacity, soil carbon sequestration with better biomass yield. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study investigated the effect of domestic waste water (grey water) as well as biochar in combination for above-ground biomass of Eucalyptus hybrid (clone 413) and Anthocephalus cadamba plantations under flooded irrigation.
Findings
Height, girth and above-ground biomass of both plantations increased significantly from control. Above-ground biomass of A. cadamba was observed to be better than Eucalyptus hybrid during initial period of establishment. After application of biochar, treatment WW+BBm was found to produce maximum above-ground biomass followed by treatment WW and WW+ BBg in both plantations system.
Originality/value
The present study encompassed a real sustainable approach for environmental management by integrating the use of waste water (source of nutrients) as well as biochar (a solid waste pyrolysed material that act as soil fertilizer, an efficient adsorbent as well as a sink for carbon sequestration) for the better biomass yield of bioenergy plantations.
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Svea Lübstorf and Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock
Maintaining and protecting employee well-being and health is of paramount importance for organizations in order to prevent financial losses due to illness, absenteeism, and…
Abstract
Maintaining and protecting employee well-being and health is of paramount importance for organizations in order to prevent financial losses due to illness, absenteeism, and fluctuation. This chapter discusses the role of team meetings for employee well-being. As the contemporary workplace is shaped by team work, team meetings increasingly shape employees’ experiences at work. As such, team meetings may also have a major influence on employee well-being as they consume large amounts of time and thus strongly influence workers’ schedules. While previous research has predominantly focused on negative aspects of meetings and mainly considered them as a workplace stressor, this chapter advances a positive perspective on meetings as opportunities for boosting rather than impairing employee well-being. Upon reviewing the extant evidence about linkages between workplace meetings and well-being, the authors highlight the role of team dynamics during meetings for individual well-being and suggest new perspectives for future research. The authors also discuss actionable implications for structuring and facilitating meetings in order to avoid negative and increase positive effects of team meeting interactions on employee well-being.
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Clara S. Hemshorn de Sánchez and Annika L. Meinecke
Across different research fields, it is increasingly acknowledged that gender is not a binary variable and goes beyond the male–female dichotomy. At the same time, gender is a…
Abstract
Across different research fields, it is increasingly acknowledged that gender is not a binary variable and goes beyond the male–female dichotomy. At the same time, gender is a prominent social cue that affects evaluations and interactions among individuals. Thus, gender can impact social processes on many levels in complex ways. Meetings provide arenas where key social processes unfold that are relevant to the organization. Understanding which role gender takes in this context is therefore central to organizations as well as meeting research. This chapter provides a critical review of research to date on social influence in meetings, specifically zooming in on the role of gender. The authors conducted a multi-step systematic literature review and identified 43 studies across a wide area of disciplines (e.g., psychology, communication, and management). The authors put special emphasis on the methodologies employed across this work since a comprehensive understanding of the applied methods is core for a synthesis of research results. Through the analysis, the authors pinpoint six variables – individual gender, sex role orientation, gender composition, gender salience, contextual factors such as task type and organizational settings, and the construction of gender as a social concept – that are directly related to gender and which represent factors that are critical for the role of gender in the meeting context. Thereby, this chapter aims to provide a roadmap for researchers and practitioners interested in the role of gender during workplace meetings. The authors conclude by highlighting methodological and managerial recommendations and suggest avenues for future research.
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Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock, Joseph A. Allen and Mark van Vugt
Teams in organizations have weekly – or even daily – meetings to exchange information, generate ideas, solve problems, and make decisions. Yet, many team meetings are described as…
Abstract
Teams in organizations have weekly – or even daily – meetings to exchange information, generate ideas, solve problems, and make decisions. Yet, many team meetings are described as ineffective by the participants, due to either their design or dysfunctional communication practices within the meeting. To gain new insights into addressing these issues, this chapter goes back deep in history and discusses the origins and functions of group meetings. Building upon evolutionary theories of human behavior, the authors examine the evolutionary significance of meetings and the ways in which they were adaptive for our human ancestors. Drawing from this evolutionary perspective, we then compare meetings in ancestral times with their modern-day counterparts. Using evidence from (a) ethnographic studies of small-scale societies that model ancestral group life and (b) organizational and team science, we contrast the typical workplace meeting with its ancient counterpart. In this review of ancient and modern meetings, we identify meeting characteristics that have been maintained through time as well as those that are unique/new in the modern time. In doing so, we inspect to what extent meeting practices in ancestral environments are aligned or at odds with meeting practices in contemporary organizations (the notion of mismatch). From these similarities and differences, we derive novel theoretical insights for the study of workplace meetings as well as suggestions for improving contemporary meeting practice. We also include a series of testable propositions that can inform future research on team meetings in organizations.
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Joseph E. Mroz, Emanuel Schreiner and Joseph A. Allen
Meetings are an integral function in organizations where interaction between leaders and their employees and thus, leadership, happens. A small but growing area of research within…
Abstract
Meetings are an integral function in organizations where interaction between leaders and their employees and thus, leadership, happens. A small but growing area of research within the larger workplace meetings domain has started to focus on the role of leaders in promoting effective and satisfying meetings. This chapter provides an overview of research to date on workplace meetings and leadership, and the authors identified seven studies that paired the two areas. The number of publications focusing on meetings and leadership is increasing, with the older papers largely dedicated to qualitative investigations of leader behaviors associated with successful meetings, whereas the more recent papers take a more theoretical and quantitative approach, yet are nonetheless largely isolated from one another. Next, the authors review five theories of leadership (full range of leadership, charismatic leadership, servant leadership, exploitative leadership, and followership), and relate each of the theories to workplace meetings, with a key focus on how the theory may impact subordinates’ perceptions of meetings as well as the utility of meetings for team and organizational functioning. The authors propose seven areas throughout the chapter that future research could explore to extend knowledge about how leadership operates in meetings and how meetings are an important aspect to consider with respect to leadership theories. Primary theoretical contributions are the integration of existing work on leadership and meetings and theoretically based propositions for future research.