Recruitment and selection practices among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Ghana

Taking into consideration the eugenic nature and perspective of high-performance human resource management functions on organizational effectiveness, the authors examined managerial and employee level of recruitment and selection on operational performance with emphasis on human capital and three indicators of organizational commitment (affective, normative, and continuous) as mediators. Questionnaires totaling 282, 122 for managerial level and 160 for employee level, were administered. A multilevel analysis of data were conducted on a selected number of Ghanaian NGOs using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that recruitment and selection ideally leads to improved operational performance, however, this affiliation can be enhanced through the inescapable role of human capital and the three commitment indicators (affective, normative, and continuous). It was also exposed that effective recruitment and selection leads to a desirable employee’s level of affective, normative and continuous commitment, which also have greater influence on the operational performance. The study is thus considered very significant contextual support to existing literature and practitioners since not much of such work has been done in the Ghanaian context. Therefore, the current study implicates recruitment and selection, human capital, and the three commitment levels as a core value-creating ability that drives non-governmental organizations performance.     

Public Service Motivation,Organizational Social Capital,and Knowledge Sharing in the Korean Public Sector

This article investigates whether public service motivation (PSM) and organizational social capital predict knowledge sharing in the public sector. The hypothesized relationships in the proposed model are verified with the online survey data of 506 public employees in Korea. The test results show that the two dimensions of PSM (attraction to public service and commitment to public values) and the trust component of organizational social capital are both positively related to knowledge sharing in the Korean public sector, and that the associability component of organizational social capital is indirectly associated with knowledge sharing through its influence on PSM. The article discusses the ways that PSM and organizational social capital may contribute to overcome the social dilemma of knowledge sharing in public organizations. It also suggests that there is need for further research on the individual dimensions of the PSM construct.     

Co-creation of Linking Social Capital in ‘Municipality 3.0’

There is great interest in co-creation of welfare production between municipalities and the civil society in the Nordic countries. Using linking social capital as a theoretical point of departure and examining a qualitative case study in Norway, I critically assess the concepts of co-creation and ‘Municipality 3.0’. It is suggested that even in countries with high trust in the authorities, building linking social capital in the shape of interorganizational networks is a complex process fraught with potential barriers related to trust, network building, municipal resources, and statutory laws and regulations. And while outcomes are promising, they are far from certain.     

Patriarchal unions = weaker unions? Industrial relations in the Asian garment industry

This paper explores how gender ideologies shape industrial relations in the Asian garment industry. Drawing on ethnographic research, it illustrates how widespread norm perceptions of acquiescent women and assertive men reinforce patriarchal, authoritarian unions. Even if privately critical, women may be reluctant to protest if they anticipate social disapproval. Such beliefs reinforce patriarchal unions, curbing women workers’ collective analysis, engagement, and activism. This weakens the collective power of labour to push for better working conditions. Tackling norm perceptions and building more inclusive unions may help strengthen the labour movement.     

Nation-building projects through new capitals: from St. Petersburg to Yerevan and Astana

The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive explanation for the reasons behind governments’ decisions to relocate and build new capital cities. The process of capital-building is not a mere phenomenon of urbanization; rather it is a process of “text inventing” for nation-building projects. To emphasize implications for identity behind city constructions, the paper will discuss urbanization practices of Soviet Yerevan and post-Soviet Astana. However, to verify the validity and generalizability of the proposed argument, the article will also briefly provide historical analysis of relocation of capitals from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and from Istanbul to Ankara. The reconstruction of the capital of Soviet Armenia, Yerevan, in the 1920s is important in understanding the role of utopias in initiating identity transformations. The central conceptual premise of the article is Samuel Huntington’s theoretical concept of a “torn country” and the redefinition of civilizational identity. One reason capitals have been relocated and new capitals have been built throughout history is a need to initiate a long-term transformation of identity.     

Global poverty and inequality: are the revised estimates open to an alternative interpretation?

The level of, and trends in, global inequality and global poverty are indicative assessments of who has benefited from economic growth. The revision of price data has led to a reassessment of those estimates. Through an extensive overview of the implications, we argue that the data can be read in different ways. Official estimates show global extreme poverty and global inequality are considerably lower than previously thought. We argue that these changes are much less significant than they at first appear, and we present a more nuanced alternative interpretation by exploring changes across the entire global distribution.     

Determinants of foreign direct investment and entry modes of Polish multinational enterprises: A new perspective on internationalization

This study uses firm data to examine the locational trends of foreign direct investment projects undertaken by Polish companies. The findings of the study are consistent with the evolutionary models of internationalization. Companies in the early stages of internationalization are motivated by markets and resource seeking, whereas efficiency seeking and strategic asset seeking are significant motivators in the advanced stages of internationalization. However, our results with respect to Polish cross-border acquisitions by service companies and greenfield foreign direct investments by industrial or manufacturing companies did not confirm the evolutionary model findings. We found evidence that, in both cases, investments are motivated by the need for efficiency or strategic assets.     

The politics of HIV/AIDS in South Africa: government action and public response

A decade ago it seemed likely that African governments would be destabilised by the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This article tests some of the presumptions in such forecasting with an examination of the South African case. It begins with an assessment of the effects on the public health system of the South African government’s efforts to cope with the illness. Efforts to implement universal treatment of people who are HIV-positive appear to have strengthened government, while the costs have been affordable. The efforts have extended the embrace of the public health system and prompted the engagement of civil society in policy formation and implementation. Survey evidence suggests that the government has gained public approval and that its health service delivery has become more socially accountable. Civil protest to engender political reforms in the treatment of AIDS patients has enhanced the role of constitutional checks on executive authority.     

Food and finance: the financial transformation of agro-food supply chains

This article draws upon existing literature to document and describe the rise of finance in food provisioning. It queries the role of financialization in the contemporary food crisis and analyzes its impacts upon the distribution of power and wealth within and along the generalized agro-food supply chain. A systematic treatment of key nodes in the supply chain reveals four key insights: (1) the line between finance and food provisioning has become increasingly blurred in recent decades, with financial actors taking a growing interest in food and agriculture and agro-food enterprises becoming increasingly involved in financial activities; (2) financialization has reinforced the position of food retailers as the dominant actors within the agro-food system, though they are largely subject to the dictates of finance capital and face renewed competition from financialized commodity traders; (3) financialization has intensified the exploitation of food workers, increasing their workload while pushing down their real wages and heightening the precarity of their positions, and (4) small-scale farmers have been especially hard hit by financialization, as their livelihoods have become even more uncertain due to increasing volatility in agricultural markets, they have become weaker vis-à-vis other actors in the agro-food supply chain, and they face growing competition for their farmland. The paper concludes by identifying themes for future research and asking readers to reimagine the role of finance in food provisioning.     

英语教育的劳动市场回报及英语教育政策调整 —— 基于 2016年问卷调查数据

中国的英语教育近年来受到越来越多的重视。无论是国家还是个人都投入了大量资源用于英语教育,如此巨额的投入所带来的劳动市场回报值得关注。英语教育的劳动市场回报可以分为人力资本投入回报和信号作用回报。研究发现,英语在实际工作中使用越多,工资收入越高,是为英语教育作为人力资本投入回报的证据。但在工作中很少用到英语的人,通过英语四六级考试对其工资也有显著影响,反映了英语教育具有信号作用的功能。调查显示,英语教育的信号作用是英语教育劳动市场回报的主要方面。因此,中国的英语教育有过度教育从而导致资源配置低效率之嫌,建议及时调整国家的英语教育政策。