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Moving from “Engineering” oriented R&D being characterised by research aimed at meeting immediate market needs, Japanese companies are developing new organisational and administrative structures to permit original R&D. They are also forced to solve problems of growing labour‐costs and shortages of managerial posts stemming from the ageing of the workforce. Within this wider process, reforms of the personnel administration of R&D are being initiated. The key characteristics lie in the fact that such modifications as expansions in the scope of rotation and clarification and diversification of career paths are common to engineers/scientists of all levels. This being the case, one can expect that the Japanese style of personnel administration system will change along the lines of one which emphasises uniformity among employees both in terms of career path and method for determining reward. Within the ongoing fundamental reform, a new model of creative and original R&D is expected to emerge in Japan.

Guided by the theoretical framework of human capital theory and using data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, this chapter investigated labor market outcomes for graduates of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) compared to their non-HBCU counterparts. The results from this current study largely indicate that there are no significant disadvantages for Black graduate of HBCUs in terms of labor market outcomes. Moreover, under the premise of human capital theory, this study found that HBCUs serve as equivalent mechanisms for human capital attainment for Black students. This chapter concludes with limitations of the study as well as implications for future research.

Lean manufacturing (LM) constitutes a consolidated alternative that has been successfully used to increase company effectiveness and performance. However, different studies have shown that many companies that attempt to integrate LM into their manufacturing operations fail in their efforts. Recent studies have shown that soft practices are a key factor for a successful LM implementation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze an in-depth review of the different human-related lean practices (HRLP) referenced in the recent literature and to identify which of them are more relevant to a successful LM implementation.

The findings presented in this paper are based on the results of a study about the situation of LM in Spain carried out with lean production managers and frontline supervisors of 202 Spanish companies with a high percent (74 percent) of international firms with factories in different countries. The implemented methodology uses factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The results shows statistical evidence of the relationship between management’s HRLP (fostering a lean culture, providing support to lean), employees’ HRLP (employee involvement and employee empowerment) and operational performance (OP) (waste reduction and flexibility).

The results have academic and practical relevance for clarifying lean phenomena, helping managers to define a sequence in which a company should implement HRLP to successfully implement LM and increase its OP.

This study fills a research gap by exploring the existing causal relationships between a greater number of variables, both dependent and independent in relation to human factors in LM implementations.

This paper develops an argument about how contentious changes unfold in organizational fields, focusing on the role of uncertainty – and the networks people use to address uncertainty. We propose that as controversial practice gains traction and spreads, the nature of uncertainty facing organizational decision makers also evolves. This dynamic has important implications for how different actors and networks can influence change. We illustrate our argument with a mixed-methods case study on the diffusion of domestic partner benefits across US Fortune 500 companies. Our findings shed light on how – and when – social activists, corporate elites, and middle managers can influence the corporate decision-making process.

Research and debate on the value and deployment of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has become contentious. While many agree that it is something that is both threatened and valuable, there are enormous conceptual difficulties encountered in framing what, exactly, it is that IK proponents should be fighting to preserve. This chapter uses insights from James C. Scott’s work on legibility and Bruno Latour’s work in the sociology of knowledge to privilege what we call relative epistemological performativity. This framework stands in contrast to attempts to privilege problematic essentialist views of “indigenous,” “Western,” or “scientific” knowledge. With this framework we are able to challenge some of the “antipolitics” implicit in educational development agenda that promote cultural and cognitive homogeneity as well as find space for hybrids like using ICT to strengthen IK. Finally, we conclude that the profound differences in conceptualizing the epistemology and ontology of IK should not detract from widespread agreement on the need for pedagogical practices that protect threatened local languages, cultures, and ecological knowledge.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

Sociology promotes and describes public health, helping to explain macro-social dynamics of mental health care through studies of organizations, networks, and systems of care.

This chapter summarizes sociological research on mental health care organizations and systems, illustrating a macro-social perspective by examining the problem of transitions in care for young adults. Summary findings from a regional mental health services research project describe a system of care that includes 100 organizations. This system helps young adults with mental health needs.

The scope and management of care involves a focus on modes of treatment supported by research evidence and delivered effectively by people with cultural competencies. Care and continuity of care are delivered through coordinated systems of inter-organizational networks, linking organizations and providers. Active inter-organizational linkages are needed to support mental health for young adults during challenging and sometimes difficult transitions.

This research summarizes original and regional data on mental health care organizations within a regional system of care. Practical implications include support for the importance of coordination, transition planning, and cultural competence within and among organizations. Sociological and original research on organizations and systems should continue to elaborate the needs and values of mental health services for regional planning and public health.