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This paper proposes a broad perspective for studying the influence of culture on the process of conflict management. Three models of conflict management are described, based on the culture framework of Glen (1981). In the confrontational model, conflicts are conceptualized as consisting of subissues, and a sense of reasonable compromise aids resolution despite a confrontational style. In the harmony model, conflict management starts with the minimization of conflict in organizations through norms stressing observance of mutual obligations and status orderings. Conflicts are defined in their totality, and resolution is aided by avoidance and an accommodative style. Less emphasis is placed on procedural justice, as on maintenance of face of self and others. Third parties are used extensively, and their role is more intrusive. In the regulative model, bureaucratic means are used extensively to minimize conflicts or to aid avoidance. Conflicts get defined in terms of general principles, and third party roles are formalized. The implications of the differences among the three models for conflict resolution across cultures and for future research are discussed.

Since the early 1970s work‐based interventions to deal with the emotional problems of workers arising from the workplace have emerged from the practitioner community. “Employee Assistance Programmes” (EAPs) have developed principally in the US and other English‐speaking cultures. A descriptive analysis of the emergence of EAPs in the US and the attempt by Australians to transfer this technology to Australia, the structure of that effort and apparent reasons for its eventual stagnation is presented. It points to the relative importance of government agencies, programme development specialists and treatment delivery agencies in programme adoption and implementation. It is evident that employers are working to demonstrate interest in employee health in terms of its impact on productivity and performance and its effects on the costs of health care. These developments are not limited to the USA. As a multinational phenomenon, employer involvement has an open‐ended potential for subtle forms of social control.

This paper investigates, theoretically and empirically, differences between blacks and whites in the United States concerning the intergenerational transmission of occupational skills and the effects on sons’ earnings. The father–son skill correlation is measured by the correlation coefficient (or cosine of the angle) between the father’s skill vector and the son’s skill vector. The skill vector comprises an individual’s occupational characteristics from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). According to data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), white sons earn higher wages in occupations that require skills similar to those of their fathers, whereas black sons in such circumstances incur a wage loss. A large portion of the racial wage gap is explained by the father–son skill correlation. However, a significant unexplained racial wage gap remains at the lower tail of the wage distribution.

Comprehensive knowledge of the complicated physical behavior of the induction furnace with cold crucible (IFCC) is required to utilize the advantages of this melting aggregate in melting and casting chemically high‐reactive materials, like titanium‐aluminides (TiAl). Practical experiences show that the overheating temperature of the melt is decisive for the quality of the cast products. Therefore, a systematic analysis of the electromagnetic and in particular, the hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of the IFCC is carried out. The examinations of the influence of the construction elements as well as the process parameters on the temperature field and finally the overheating temperature in the IFCC are performed using specifically developed numerical models. The evaluation of the numerical results is done by experimental investigations, where aluminum serves as a model melt for the experimental determination of the thermal and hydrodynamic field of the melt. The analysis of the influence of construction‐elements on the overheating temperature is focused on the design of the crucible wall and the crucible bottom, on the height‐diameter ratio of the crucible and on the axial inductor position. The inductor current, the operation frequency and the crucible filling level are found to be very important for reaching a high overheating temperature.