An empirical investigation of host country national categorization of expatriates in the United Kingdom

In recent times, some authors have argued that Host Country National (HCN) categorization of expatriate co-workers plays a major role in expatriate adjustment. Previous studies have argued that HCN categorization of expatriates maybe be based on gender, or national origin. In this study, using data from 331 HCNs in the U.K., we find that HCN expectations of foreigners may play a big role in categorization. Further, we find that categorization leads to lower levels of support offered by HCNs, which can affect expatriate adjustment. We discuss implications and offer suggestions for future research.

War crimes, conditionality and EU integration in the Western Balkans

The baleful legacy of the wars of the 1990s continues to dog the states and societies of the former Yugoslavia and has overshadowed the disappointingly slow and hesitant trajectory of the region towards the EU. At the start of the new millennium, with the removal of key wartime leaders from the political scene in both Croatia and Serbia, it was widely hoped that the region would prove able to ‘leave the past behind’ and rapidly move on to the hopeful new agenda of EU integration. The EU’s Copenhagen criteria, which in 1993 first explicitly set out the basic political conditions expected of aspirant EU Member States, proved effective in the case of the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe in supporting the entrenchment of democratic norms and practices, and stimulating reconciliation and good neighbourly relations among countries with turbulent histories. Building on this experience, the Stabilisation and Association Process, launched for the countries of the Western Balkans in 1999, included both full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and regional reconciliation among the political conditions set for advancing these countries on the path to EU integration. EU political conditionality was intended to support the efforts of new political leaders to redefine national goals away from the nationalist enmities of the past and focus firmly on forging a path to a better future. This Chaillot Paper examines the extent to which this strategy has worked, especially in the light of the difficulties it has encountered in the face of strong resistance to cooperation among sections of the former Yugoslav population, many of whom have not yet fully acknowledged the crimes committed during the 1990s. Key chapters in the volume raise the vital questions of leadership and political will. EU political conditionality does not work unless the EU has a partner ready and willing to ‘play the game’, which presupposes that EU integration has become the overriding priority on the national political agenda.

Political parties and public policy in the German Länder:when parties matter

When Parties Matter looks at the extent to which political parties can make a difference to public policy, focusing on the regional level in Germany. Politicians of the left and the right sometimes have radically different views, but inevitably the combined forces of legal and financial constraints, bureaucracy, public expectations and the 'weight of history' restrict their ability to translate political disagreement into policy change. Giving a detailed examination of education policy, childcare and family policy, and labour market policy in three German regions between 1999 and 2006, this book provides insights into what politicians can and cannot achieve, in particular at the level below the nation-state.

The use of expert systems for decision making in organizations

The research described in this thesis investigates three issues related to the use of expert systems for decision making in organizations. These are the effectiveness of ESs when used in different roles, to replace a human decision maker or to advise a human decision maker, the users' behaviourand opinions towards using an expertadvisory system and, the possibility of organization-wide deployment of expert systems and the role of an ES in different organizational levels. The research was based on the development of expert systems within a business game environment, a simulation of a manufacturing company. This was chosen to give more control over the `experiments' than would be possible in a real organization. An expert system (EXGAME) was developed based on a structure derived from Anthony's three levels of decision making to manage the simulated company in the business game itself with little user intervention. On the basis of EXGAME, an expert advisory system (ADGAME) was built to help game players to make better decisions in managing the game company. EXGAME and ADGAME are thus two expert systems in the same domain performing different roles; it was found that ADGAME had, in places, to be different from EXGAME, not simply an extension of it. EXGAME was tested several times against human rivals and was evaluated by measuring its performance. ADGAME was also tested by different users and was assessed by measuring the users' performance and analysing their opinions towards it as a helpful decision making aid. The results showed that an expert system was able to replace a human at the operational level, but had difficulty at the strategic level. It also showed the success of the organization-wide deployment of expert systems in this simulated company.

Evaluating small business performance : a matched pair analysis of African Caribbean owned businesses in the UK

African Caribbean Owned Businesses (ACOBs) have been postulated as having performance-related problems especially when compared with other ethnic minority groups in Britain. This research investigates if ACOBs may be performing less than similar firms in the population and why this maybe so. Therefore the aspiration behind this study is one of ratifying the existence of performance differentials between ACOBs and White Asian Owned Businesses (WAOBs), by using a triangulation of methods and matched pair analysis. Every ACOB was matched along firm specific characteristics of age, size, legal form and industry (sector), with similar WAOBs. Findings show support for the hypothesis that ACOBs are more likely to perform less than the WAOBs; WAOBs out-performed ACOBs in the objective and subjective assessments. Though we found some differentials between both groups in the entrepreneur’s characteristics and various emphases in strategic orientation in overall business strategy. The most likely drivers of performance differentials were found in firm activities and operations. ACOBs tended to have brands that were not as popular in the mainstream with most of their manufactured goods being seen as ‘exotic’ while those by WAOBs were perceived as ‘traditional’. Moreover, ACOBs had a higher proportion of clients constituting of individuals than business organisations while the WAOBs had a higher proportion consisting of business organisations.

Multiple paradigms and organisational research: an analysis of work behaviour in the fire service

The thesis examines Kuhn's (1962, 1970) concept of paradigm, assesses how it is employed for mapping intellectual terrain in the social sciences, and evaluates it's use in research based on multiple theory positions. In so doing it rejects both the theses of total paradigm 'incommensurability' (Kuhn, 1962), and also of liberal 'translation' (Popper, 1970), in favour of a middle ground through the 'language-game of everyday life' (Wittgenstein, 1953). The thesis ultimately argues for the possibility of being 'trained-into' new paradigms, given the premise that 'unorganised experience cannot order perception' (Phillips, 1977). In conducting multiple paradigm research the analysis uses the Burrell and Morgan (1979) model for examining the work organisation of a large provincial fire Service. This analysis accounts for firstly, a 'functionalist' assessment of work design, demonstrating inter alia the decrease in reported motivation with length of service; secondly, an 'interpretive' portrayal of the daily accomplishment of task routines, highlighting the discretionary and negotiated nature of the day's events; thirdly, a 'radical humanist' analysis of workplace ideology, demonstrating the hegemonic role of officer training practices; and finally, a 'radical structuralist' description of the labour process, focusing on the establishment of a 'normal working day'. Although the argument is made for the possibility of conducting multiple paradigm research, the conclusion stresses the many institutional pressures serving to offset development.

The Legitimation of authority in the European Union

The founding Treaties of the European Union (EU) provide the Commission with bureaucratic structures and functions, and the authority to take a political leadership role in the integration process. However, the legitimacy of the Commission's authority to act either as a bureaucracy or as a political institution is periodically contested, as is the authority and leadership of its President. Max Weber's theory of the legitimation of authority suggests itself in this context as a working tool for assessing the nature of institutional and individual authority and leadership in the Commission and the broader EU context. Weber's typology of authority offers both an understanding of the changes in the Commission's fortunes within the 'would-be polity' of the European institutions, and an appraisal of claims to authority at the individual level by the Commission President. When applied to two contrasting moments in the Commission's life during the presidency of Jacques Delors (the generating of the White Papers of 1985 and 1993), Weber's typology provides an explanation for the evolution of the legitimation of these forms of authority in terms of, first, the Union's imperfect provisions for legitimate claims to leadership authority on 'charismatic' grounds and, second, the absence in the Union of resources for leadership legitimacy based on 'traditional'-type authority, such as explicit, popular, or party political European-wide support for the project of European union. These are resources which, if present in the EU, would legitimise calls to reform the EU's institutions in the direction of more integration and a more federal polity. The case studies offer an appraisal of the functioning and malfunctioning of authority within the Union, as well as a critical assessment of the applicability of the Weberian model to the legitimation of authority in the EU.

Constructing institutional change: emergence, contestation and convergence of business models in the field of Java application servers

How are innovative new business models established if organizations constantly compare themselves against existing criteria and expectations? The objective is to address this question from the perspective of innovators and their ability to redefine established expectations and evaluation criteria. The research questions ask whether there are discernible patterns of discursive action through which innovators theorize institutional change and what role such theorizations play for mobilizing support and realizing change projects. These questions are investigated through a case study on a critical area of enterprise computing software, Java application servers. In the present case, business practices and models were already well established among incumbents with critical market areas allocated to few dominant firms. Fringe players started experimenting with a new business approach of selling services around freely available opensource application servers. While most new players struggled, one new entrant succeeded in leading incumbents to adopt and compete on the new model. The case demonstrates that innovative and substantially new models and practices are established in organizational fields when innovators are able to refine expectations and evaluation criteria within an organisational field. The study addresses the theoretical paradox of embedded agency. Actors who are embedded in prevailing institutional logics and structures find it hard to perceive potentially disruptive opportunities that fall outside existing ways of doing things. Changing prevailing institutional logics and structures requires strategic and institutional work aimed at overcoming barriers to innovation. The study addresses this problem through the lens of (new) institutional theory. This discourse methodology traces the process through which innovators were able to establish a new social and business model in the field.

Balancing expectations in engineering education:enhancing student experiences through empirical research - a comparative analysis

This paper draws upon the findings of an empirical study comparing the expectations and concerns of engineering students with students enrolled on business and management programs. It argues that whilst the two groups of students have very similar expectations, motivations and concerns before their start their studies, once at university, engineering students are twice as likely to drop-out than are their compatriots in business studies. Drawing upon the study findings, recommendations are made as to what might be done to counteract this. The conclusion argues that there is a need for more in-depth research to be conducted in this area in order to identify the reasons behind the different attrition rates and to further enhance engineering undergraduate experience.

Econometrics of yield spreads in the money market:a note

The literature on bond markets and interest rates has focused largely on the term structure of interest rates, specifically, on the so-called expectations hypothesis. At the same time, little is known about the nature of the spread of the interest rates in the money market beyond the fact that such spreads are generally unstable. However, with the evolution of complex financial instruments, it has become imperative to identify the time series process that can help one accurately forecast such spreads into the future. This article explores the nature of the time series process underlying the spread between three-month and one-year US rates, and concludes that the movements in this spread over time is best captured by a GARCH(1,1) process. It also suggests the use of a relatively long term measure of interest rate volatility as an explanatory variable. This exercise has gained added importance in view of the revelation that GARCH based estimates of option prices consistently outperform the corresponding estimates based on the stylized Black-Scholes algorithm.

Androiden und (Anti)feminismus in The Stepford Wives

Since the early days of cinema the creation of artificial life with its various implications has been a popular topic on screen. Amongst the large number of films that deal with the theme of androids Bryan Forbes’ "The Stepford Wives" (1975) is noticeable for its focus on questions of gender and the relationship between the sexes. The film is set in a contemporary small suburban town where frustrated husbands have found a special way of dealing with their emancipated wives by replacing them with docile life-like robots. Mixing elements of the thriller and horror genres with farce and comedy "The Stepford Wives" was the first American mainstream film to deal explicitly with Women’s Lib. Unlike Ira Levin in his much more ambivalent novel that the film was based on, Forbes and his actors deliberately set out to make a feminist satire, and according to some critics succeeded in producing an important document of second wave feminism which soon acquired cult status. However, it also provoked a number of negative reactions from feminists who were very uncomfortable with a film in which men get away with murdering the female population of an entire town. A closer inspection reveals that the satirical element of the film is indeed not prominent and frequently counteracted, at times facilitating a misogynist rather than a feminist interpretation. This is mainly due to the ending of the film which implies the murderous elimination of the female protagonist. Unlike all other cinematic and literary works that feature androids "The Stepford Wives" shows the successful creation of artificial life which does not backfire. In addition, the film which clearly categorises itself as a thriller and horror movie, and specifically alludes to the tradition of threatened yet strong female characters in these genres, at the same time defies this convention in favour of a seemingly misogynist ending. Thus the way in which "The Stepford Wives" refuses to comply with the traditions of both the android theme and the horror genre, involuntarily serves to undermine its intention as a feminist social satire.

Proceedings of the Spring Servitization Conference (SSC 2013):servitization in the multi-organisation enterprise

The increased data complexity and task interdependency associated with servitization represent significant barriers to its adoption. The outline of a business game is presented which demonstrates the increasing complexity of the management problem when moving through Base, Intermediate and Advanced levels of servitization. Linked data is proposed as an agile set of technologies, based on well established standards, for data exchange both in the game and more generally in supply chains.

Servitization and enterprization in the construction industry:the case of a specialist subcontractor

The current economic climate and a continuing fall in output of the UK construction industry has led to falling prices and margins particularly affecting those lower down in the supply chain such as specialist subcontractors. Coen Ltd. is one such company based in the West Midlands. Faced with a need to up its game it has embarked on a business improvement programme concentrating on better operational efficiency, building stronger client relationships and delivering value added services. Lacking appropriate internal resources Coen has joined with Aston Business School in a 2 year ERDF sponsored project to fulfil the transformation programme. The paper will describe the evolution of product- service offerings in construction and link this with the work being carried out at Coen with Aston and outline the anticipated outcomes.

Perspectives on supply chain management and logistics:creating competitive organisations in the 21st Century

Globalisation is the buzzword of the twenty-first century. It forces businesses to compete not just with rivals within the same city or country, but with similar companies across the globe. In such a world the consumer is king and to keep on top businesses must show constant innovation and meet customers' ever-growing expectations. Supply chain management (SCM), with its focus on achieving the service levels demanded by markets and on optimising total supply chains cost and investment, has a potentially pivotal role to play in addressing these challenges. Perspectives on Supply Chain Management and Logistics is written by a mix of academics, consultants and practitioners, all of whom have significant theoretical and practical experience. The book was conceived with the many supply chain and logistics professionals who are following formal learning programmes at all levels (Certificate, Diploma, Degree and Masters) in the subject in mind. However, it is hoped that it will be read equally profitably by students, researchers and practicing SCM and logistics professionals.