Towards a model of effective knowledge transfer within transnationals: The case of Chinese foreign invested enterprises

In this paper Chinese foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) are employed as prototypes to generate a model of how transnationals can transfer both tacit and explicit knowledge between their units as well as between FIEs and the parent organization. We propose that successful intra-organization knowledge transfer depends upon: (1) collective creation of knowledge as intellectual and social capital available throughout the organization; (2) trust-based collaboration among geographically dispersed entities that form the transnational organization; and (3) the willingness and ability of organizational units to use that knowledge. The paper further proposes that organizational knowledge should ideally flow in multiple directions, providing learning opportunities for both investing and host organizations. Implications for transfer of best practices, a specific form of tacit knowledge, are also offered.     

Assessing the public's understanding of constitutional reform: Evidence from Argentina

Constitutional and institutional reform is occurring at an impressive rate throughout the world. To explain the dynamics of reform the scholarly literature has focused almost exclusively on political elites. Analyses of the role played by public opinion in the constitutional reform process have been largely missing. This study takes an initial first step toward understanding the role played by public opinion through an analysis of public understanding of selected constitutional reform issues in Argentina. The evidence indicates that the Argentine public has a fairly sophisticated understanding of the issues involved in constitutional reform. This finding suggests that current elite-based explanations of constitutional and institutional reforms are incomplete. The article also provides a point of departure for future studies of the complex elite-mass interaction that occurs during reform.     

JUVENILE OFFENDERS MEET THEIR VICTIMS

The process of allowing certain victims of crime to confront their juvenile offender in the presence of a trained mediator to both talkabout the event andnegotiate aplan for compensating the victim is developing in a growing number of communities throughout the United States. This article reports on the impact of the victim offender mediation program in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is based on interviews with 206 victims and juvenile offenders in Albuquerque, as well as interviews with court officials andprogram stas This program represenisa strong court and community partnership. victims and offenders whoparticipated in mediation indicated high levels of satisfaction with both the processand outcomes of mediation. Wctims who were involved in mediation, particularly, were considerably more likely to indicate satisfaction with the manner in which the juvenile justice system handled their case than were those victims who were referred to mediation but did nut participate or similar victims who were never even referred to the mediation program. Offenders who negotiated their restitution obligation with the victim were far more likely to actually complete restitution, when compared to offenders whose restitution was ordered by the court with no mediation program involvement.     

Do career criminals exist in rural America?

The criminal career paradigm had essentially ignored investigating offenders in rural areas. To fill this void, a retrospective, cross-sectional design sampled 331 former adult correctional clients from the case archives in a rural midwestern state. Self-report and official records indicated that rural criminal careers were characterized by relatively few arrests, short-lived criminal justice system involvements, and a paucity of violent crime. Although the sample demonstrated relatively benign criminality overall, the most chronic offenders, top 10 percent of the sample, were plagued by overlapping, contemporaneous problems such as alcoholism, substance abuse, mental health difficulties, early onset of antisocial behavior, low educational attainment, and revolving involvement in the criminal justice system. Like rural communities, which were characterized by exceedingly low crime rates, rural career offenders tended to be relatively harmless criminals especially compared to habitual offenders commonly found in the criminological literature.