Digital Commons Network^™

Ssrn As An Initial Revolution In Academic Knowledge Aggregation And Dissemination, David Bray, Sascha Vitzthum, Benn Konsynski

Sascha Vitzthum

Within this paper we consider our results of using the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) over a period of 18 months to distribute our working papers to the research community. Our experiences have been quite positive, with SSRN serving as a platform both to inform our colleagues about our research as well as inform us about related research (through email and telephoned conversations of colleagues who discovered our paper on SSRN). We then discuss potential future directions for SSRN to consider, and how SSRN might well represent an initial revolution in 21st century academic knowledge aggregation and dissemination. Our paper …

It Takes More Than House Calls: Organizing To Win With A Comprehensive Union-Building Strategy, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Tom Juravich

Kate Bronfenbrenner

[Excerpt] Until recently, some national and local union leaders still argued that labor should circle the wagons and take care of existing members rather than spend scarce resources on organizing nonunion workers. Today those voices have largely been silenced by the hard numbers of labor's dramatic decline. As expressed in the platform of the new AFL-CIO leadership slate, the American labor movement must "organize at an unprecedented pace and scale." The question unions face today is no longer whether to make organizing a priority but how that can best be achieved.

Virtual Environments Innovation And R&D Activities: Management Challenges, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Companies will not survive long unless they join a threefold revolution in management itself, innovation, and information technology. Innovation plays a central role in economic development, at regional and national level. In the competitive environment companies are obliged to produce more rapidly, more effectively and more efficiently in new product development which is a result of research and development (R&D) activities. It is necessary for them to put together different capabilities and services with the goal, through cooperation between suppliers and customers, service providers and scientific institutions to achieve innovations of high quality. Depending on the type of industry, the …

Final Report : The Effects Of Plant Closing Or Threat Of Plant Closing On The Right Of Workers To Organize, Kate Bronfenbrenner

Kate Bronfenbrenner

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Strategic And Coordinated Bargaining Campaigns In The 1990s: The Steelworkers’ Experience, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Tom Juravich

Kate Bronfenbrenner

"With the refocusing of attention of the labor movement on organizing, an increasing number of scholars have been directing their research toward the nature and practice of current union organizing efforts. These scholars have begun updating a literature that had grown sorely out of touch with the organizing experience of America’s unions and have provided the foundation for a more sophisticated understanding of the organizing process. While we applaud this resurgence in organizing research, there has not been a comparable resurgence in research on collective bargaining…"

Worker Turnover And Part-Time Employment At Ups, Kate Bronfenbrenner

Kate Bronfenbrenner

Over the last ten years we have seen a dramatic increase in the utilization of part-time workers by the United Parcel Service (UPS). This increase has been coupled with a stunningly high turnover rate of 150 percent among these workers. This study documents the deteriorating work environment for part-time workers at UPS and finds that a lack of full-time opportunities, a pervasive pattern of management mistreatment, and an alarmingly high injury rate are the primary determinants of the high turnover rate.

Virtual R&D Teams: A Sustainable Infrastructure For Promoting Smes, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a major part of the industrial economies. Their survival and growth has therefore been a prominent issue. Research and development (R&D) enables firms to create new technologies and/or to build on existing technologies obtained through technology transfer. Nowadays unpredictable environment suggests that many firms seek new ways of conducting their business through some kind of R&D activities to make a profit and stay ahead of the competition. To survive in the global economy SMEs have to improve their products and processes exploiting their intellectual capital in a dynamic network of knowledge-intensive relations inside …

Training And Service Quality: A Case Study Analysis Of Regional Australian Restaurants, Grant Cairncross, Simon J. Wilde, Lucinda Hutchinson

Dr Simon J Wilde

The incorporation of training procedures, both formal and informal, within hospitality firms is recognised as a vital element in achieving sustainable perceived service quality. Yet, despite this importance, relatively little is known about the extent, nature and determinants of training in hospitality firms in regional Australia. Restaurants in particular have proven hard to analyse because many are what the Australian Bureau of Statistics calls micro-businesses who employ less than five staff, or are small businesses with five to twenty employees, and have little in the way of training resources and expertise in the area. An examination of six restaurants in …

Dealing With Virtual R&D Teams In New Product Development, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

National and global collaboration in research and development (R&D) is becoming increasingly important in creating the knowledge that makes research and business more competitive. Multinational enterprises have increased their research and development (R&D) investment in different countries. These multiple sites encourage the development of more ideas, due to the varied international backgrounds in global networks and the knowledge spillovers. In order to secure the viability of business processes, services and products R&D teams need to access and retrieve information from as many sources as possible. From the other perspective virtual teams are important mechanisms for organizations seeking to control scarce …

Towards Self-Organizing, Smart Business Networks: Let’S Create ‘Life’ From Inert Information, David Bray, Benn Konsynski

David A. Bray

We review three different theories that can inform how researchers can determine the performance of smart business networks, to include: (1) the Theory of Evolution, (2) the Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, and (3) research insights into computers and cognition. We suggest that each of these theories demonstrate that to be generally perceived as smart, an organism needs to be self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. Consequentially, to determine the performance of a smart business network, we suggest that researchers need to determine the degree to which it is self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. We then relate these findings to the Internet and …

Technical Analysis: The Interface Of Rational And Irrational Decision Making, William Marty Martin

William Marty Martin

No abstract provided.

Econometrics Of Fair Values, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

Crafting A Human Resource Strategy To Foster Organizational Agility: A Case Study, Richard A. Shafer, Lee Dyer, Janine Kilty, Jeffrey Amos, G. A. (Jeff) Ericksen

Lee Dyer

A decade ago, the CEO of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN), anticipating a tumultuous and largely unpredictable period in its industry, undertook to convert this organization from one that was basically stable and complacent to one that was agile, “nimble, and change-hardy”. This case study briefly addresses AEHN’s approaches to business strategy and organization design, but focuses primarily on the human resource strategy that emerged over time to foster the successful attainment of organizational agility. Although exploratory, the study suggests a number of lessons for those who are, or will be, studying or trying to create and sustain this promising …

The Italian Chamber Of Lords Sits On Listed Company Boards. An Empirical Analysis Of Italian Listed Company Boards From 1998 To 2006 - Presentation (Powerpoint Format), Paolo Santella, Carlo Drago, Andrea Polo

Paolo Santella

No abstract provided.

Alleviating Global Poverty Through Profitable Partnerships: Moral Imagination & Economic Well-Being, Laura Hartman, P. Werhane, D. Moberg, S. Kelley

Laura Hartman

While at least one out of six in the global human population cannot meet the basic demands of survival and they have little ability to buy goods and services, this situation also presents potential new markets for multinational enterprises seeking long-term sustainability. If economic growth is a continuing and positive goal for the planet and for global companies, then, as markets in developed economies become saturated, these new markets provide fresh opportunities to satisfy this objective.

Community Partnerships: Creating Tangible Benefits From Community Engagement, David Cooke Dr

David Cooke

A deeper understanding of the complimentary skills sets of corporations and the not-for-profit sector reveals that they have much to offer each other and that returns on investmnent for corporations and a greater flow of funds to charitable organisations can be achieved through the study of effective partnerships.

Virtual R&D Teams For Npd In Smes: Past, Present And Future Trend, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This paper provides a comprehensive review on different aspects of virtual teams based on authentic and reputed publications. The purpose of the state-of-the-art literature review is to provide an overview of what is known about the structure and dynamics of R&D collaboration in SMEs. SMEs are the backbone of the world business. The focus of the investigation is on virtual R&D teams in SMEs. After providing a definition and importance of virtual teams, research and development (R&D), small and medium enterprises (SME) and new product development (NPD), the relationship between them will be examined. This paper seeks to address some …

Concurrent Collaboration In Research And Development, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Integration is the essence of current research and development (R&D) activity in many organizations. Integration can be established in various ways depending on the type, size and intricacy in organizational functions and products. Nevertheless, research and development (R&D) has become an inevitable function in most manufacturing companies in order to develop their own product niches for their survival in the prevailing highly completive market environment. Research and development functions are fundamental drivers of value creation in technologybased enterprises. Of creating and maintaining a vibrant R&D environment, organizations individually or collectively need to incorporate virtual R&D team. A virtual R&D team …

Book Review 18 Make Room For Happiness By Steven Melemis, William C. Mcpeck

William C. McPeck

This is my review of Make Room for Happiness: 12 Ways to Improve Your Life By Letting Go of Tension. Better Health, Self-Esteem and Relationships by Steven Melemis, published by Modern Therapies in 2008.

New Product Development In Virtual Environment, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Purpose - The literature on the topic has evolved exponentially since eight years ago. Relaying on a review of studies published in recent years, this article proposes and discusses a framework which incorporates a set of virtual teams involved in a new product development initiative. Design/methodology/approach – A range of academic and practitioner literature related to virtual teams and virtual new product development is reviewed. What is Virtual New Product Development and what determines its development in manufacturing firms? These two questions are answered. Findings - The decision to use a virtual team is often a necessity and not a …

Recordkeeping Alters Economic History By Promoting Reciprocity By Basu Et Al, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

Are Regulatory Mandate And Independence Necessary For Audit Quality?, Shyam Sunder, Karim Jamal

Shyam Sunder

"The Anatomy Of A Housing Bubble", Grace Bucchianeri

Grace Wong Bucchianeri

This paper investigates the existence of housing bubbles through a within-city, panel analysis. The Hong Kong housing market experienced a real increase of over fifty percent between 1995 and 1997. Two phenomena during the price upswing stand out: a substantial cross-sectional variation in the price increase and strong co-movements of return and turnover rates. I posit and present evidence for two causes of the bubble: newspaper coverage and political uncertainties.

Estimated P-Values In Discrete Models: Asymptotic And Non-Asymptotic Effects, Chris Lloyd

Chris J. Lloyd

The exact null distribution of a P-value typically depends on nuisance parameters unspecified under the null. For discrete models and standard approximate P-values, this dependence can be quite strong. The estimated (or bootstrap) P-value is the exact probability of the P-value being no larger than its observed value, with the null estimate of the nuisance parameter substituted. For continuous models, it is known that such `bootstrap' P-values deviate from uniformity by terms of order m^{-3/2}, where m is a measure of sample size. The main difficulty with discrete models is the breakdown of asymptotics near the boundary. The aim of …

Examining Quality Improvement Programs: The Case Of Minnesota Hospitals, James A. Belohlav

James A. Belohlav

No abstract provided.

Quashing The Financial Firestorm, Aaron S. Edlin

Aaron Edlin

Start the financial rescue with containment, establish unlimited deposit insurance and continuous access to funds, then move to a well thought-out plan to quash the financial flames.

Why Don't They Learn?, Cynthia D. Fisher

Cynthia D. Fisher

Extract: Highhouse (2008) suggests that managers’ ‘‘stubborn’’ preferences for suboptimal selection practices are based on two beliefs: (1) that selection decisions can be near 100% correct and (2) that the expertise and intuition needed to make perfect decisions are developed by experience. I will suggest mechanisms by which these beliefs persist in the face of what should be contradictory feedback.

Industrialization Strategy And Industrial Relations Policy In Malaysia, Sarosh C. Kuruvilla

Sarosh Kuruvilla

[Excerpt] In this chapter, a different view is taken of the relationship between industrialization strategies and industrial relations policy and practice. I argue that it is not the logic of industrialism or the levels of industrialization per se but the choice of an industrialization strategy and the shifts between such strategies that influence changes in industrial relations policies.

Linkages Between Industrialization Strategies And Industrial Relations/Human Resource Policies: Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, And India, Sarosh Kuruvilla

Sarosh Kuruvilla

The case studies of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and India presented in this paper support the author's contention that a country's industrialization strategy for economic development profoundly influences its industrial relations (IR) and human resources (HR) policy goals. The author finds that import substitution industrialization was associated with IR/HR policy goals of pluralism and stability, while a low-cost export-oriented industrialization strategy was associated with IR/HR policy goals of cost containment and union suppression. In countries that moved from a low-cost export-oriented strategy to a higher value added export-oriented strategy, the focus of IR/HR policy goals shifted from cost containment to …

The Interactive Effect Of Political Skill And Growth-Need On Outcomes: Boundaries On The Utility Of Workplace Political Behavior, Grace Lemmon

Grace Lemmon

No abstract provided.