31,072 research outputs found

    Avoiding the misuse of social media by employees

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    Social networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are increasingly being used in various ways by organizations. In this article we examine the potential misuse of social media by employees, the UK legislation relevant to such misuse, and also examine approaches by which organizations can attempt to limit such misuse via appropriate guidance for employees

    Trademark Vigilance in the Twenty-First Century: An Update

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    The trademark laws impose a duty upon brand owners to be vigilant in policing their marks, lest they be subject to the defense of laches, a reduced scope of protection, or even death by genericide. Before the millennium, it was relatively manageable for brand owners to police the retail marketplace for infringements and counterfeits. The Internet changed everything. In ways unforeseen, the Internet has unleashed a tremendously damaging cataclysm upon brands—online counterfeiting. It has created a virtual pipeline directly from factories in China to the American consumer shopping from home or work. The very online platforms that make Internet shopping so convenient, and that have enabled brands to expand their sales, have exposed buyers to unwittingly purchasing fake goods which can jeopardize their health and safety as well as brand reputation. This Article updates a 1999 panel discussion titled Trademark Vigilance in the Twenty-First Century, held at Fordham Law School, and explains all the ways in which vigilance has changed since the Internet has become an inescapable feature of everyday life. It provides trademark owners with a road map for monitoring brand abuse online and solutions for taking action against infringers, counterfeiters and others who threaten to undermine brand value

    Fraudulent Contracting of Work: Abusing Traineeship Status (Austria, Finland, Spain and UK)

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    [Eurofound) In recent years, traineeships have become an important entry point into the labour market for young people across Europe. As outlined in a Flash Eurobarometer report (European Commission, 2013a), more young people report having done a traineeship (46%) than an apprenticeship or student job (both 26%). The report also shows that traineeships particularly apply to those aged between 25 and 29 (50%) but also those aged 30–34 (43%), with traineeships being more common among those who have graduated from university. However, European and national stakeholders express growing concern regarding abuses of the system, poor working conditions and fraudulent practices, including the replacement of regular workers with trainees. A European Commission proposal for a quality framework for traineeships noted evidence of traineeships providing insufficient learning content (for example, trainees being asked to carry out menial tasks) and offering inadequate working conditions, with long working hours, unsatisfactory coverage in terms of health and safety and occupational risks, and little or no remuneration or compensation (European Commission, 2013b)

    Drugs research: an overview of evidence and questions for policy

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    In 2001 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation embarked upon a programme of research that explored the problem of illicit drugs in the UK. The research addressed many questions that were often too sensitive for the government to tackle. In many cases, these studies represented the first research on these issues. This study gives an overview of the projects in the programme. The topics covered include: * The policing of drug possession. * The domestic cultivation, purchasing and heavy use of cannabis. * Non-problematic heroin use, heroin prescription and Drug Consumption Rooms. * The impact of drugs on the family. * Drug testing in schools and in the workplac

    Workplace Violence and Security: Are there Lessons for Peacemaking?

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    Workplace violence has captured the attention of commentators, employers, and the public at large. Although statistically the incidents of workplace homicide and assault are decreasing, public awareness of the problem has heightened, largely through media reports of violent incidents. Employers are exhorted to address the problem of workplace violence and are offered a variety of programs and processes to prevent its occurrence. Many techniques, however, conflict with values that are critical to achieving sustainable peace. We focus on types of workplace violence that are triggered by organizational factors. From among the plethora of recommendations, we identify those responses that are most and least consistent with positive peace. We find that processes that promote privacy, transparency, and employee rights hold the most promise for peacemaking. We submit that such structures and processes can be transportable beyond the workplace to promote peace locally, nationally, and globally.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39920/3/wp535.pd

    Foreign Direct Investments as Initiators of Change: The ”Swedmilk” dairy case- Reasons behind the failure

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    Institutional problems and the corruptive use of social capital give ground for misuse of institutional gaps and cause intentional failures for financial benefits. Based on social capital theory and transaction cost economics (TCE) this paper describes how the institutional environment in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), affects success or failure of business endeavors, such as the Swedmilk case. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI’s) are expected to be the drivers of positive economic development for economies in transition. Hence, the major question addressed in this paper is: How does a Greenfield foreign direct investment of 25 million Euros, manage to collapse in such a short period? The paper also describes the “official” plans and actual outcomes of the dairy, as well as the situation in the dairy sector before and after the Swedmilk failure. The financial problems occurred in October 2008, so the case of Swedmilk is quite recent and has not been included in any kind of research. Being a recent case the real implications on the dairy farming and sector are yet to be explored.social capital, institutional environment, dairy sector, Swedmilk dairy, foreign direct investments, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

    Corruption and companies: The case of facilitating payments

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    Facilitating payments are a very widespread form of corruption. They consist of small payments or gifts made to a person -a public official or an employee of a private company- to obtain a favor, such as expediting an administrative process, obtaining a permit, license or service, or avoiding an abuse of power. Unlike the worst forms of corruption, facilitating payments do not usually involve an outright injustice on the part of the payer, as she is entitled to what she requests. That may be why public opinion tends to condone them; often they are assumed to be unavoidable and are excused on the grounds of low wages and lack of professionalism among public officials and disorganization in government offices. Many companies that take the fight against "grand" corruption very seriously are inclined to overlook these "petty" transgressions, which are seen as the "grease" that makes the wheels of the bureaucratic machine turn more smoothly. And yet, facilitating payments have a pernicious effect on the working of public and private administrations; all too often they are the slippery slope to more serious forms of corruption; they impose additional costs on companies and citizens; and in the long run they sap the ethical foundations of organizations. This article focuses on facilitating payments from the point of view of the company that makes the payment, either as the active partner (when it is the company that takes the initiative) or as the passive partner (when the official or employee is the instigator).bribery; corruption; extortion; facilitating payments; gifts;

    Rogue NGOs and NPOs: content, context, consequences

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    This paper explores the key components of dysfunctional, criminal and deviant behaviours within and by associational and not-for-profit organisations, and their consequences in terms of practice, application and policy. Abstract This short primer explores the key components of dysfunctional, criminal and deviant behaviors within and by associational and not-for-profit organizations, and their consequences in terms of practice, application and policy. A rich literature review of major and minor nonprofit scandals—primarily in the West—but also in other countries around the world demonstrate the breadth and depth of nonprofit corruption, fraud and misuse of funds as well as misconduct and deviant behavior by individuals within and by organizations. These associations range from Mom and Pop-scaled voluntary foundations to transnational charitable organizations, and so-called “Dark Nonprofit Groups (DNGs)” that promote terrorism, hate, extreme political views and other noxious or bizarre ideologies. Summarized are the widely researched concerns regarding self-regulation of these organizations including weaknesses in management controls, issues with adherence to existing vision and mission statements; board and management accountability; internal and external fiduciary controls; and intra- and inter-governmental regulatory responses. The context of these wrongdoings are ensconced within the framework of a discussion of ethics, morals, and wayward interpretations of legal and ownership structures in prevailing cultures and societies. Consequences of nonprofit organizational misconduct and dysfunction reveal a universal need for more research into the dark side of the Third Sector; and additional accountability and transparency not only at the micro level—individuals and board members within the organization--but also at the state, federal and global level. Lastly, increasingly vocal activism of civil society is acknowledged to have given shape and direction to the new moral landscape of 21st century Third Sector agendas

    How primary care can contribute to good mental health in adults.

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    The need for support for good mental health is enormous. General support for good mental health is needed for 100% of the population, and at all stages of life, from early childhood to end of life. Focused support is needed for the 17.6% of adults who have a mental disorder at any time, including those who also have a mental health problem amongst the 30% who report having a long-term condition of some kind. All sectors of society and all parts of the NHS need to play their part. Primary care cannot do this on its own. This paper describes how primary care practitioners can help stimulate such a grand alliance for health, by operating at four different levels - as individual practitioners, as organisations, as geographic clusters of organisations and as policy-makers

    Workplace Violence and Security: Are there Lessons for Peacemaking?

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    Workplace violence has captured the attention of commentators, employers, and the public at large. Although statistically the incidents of workplace homicide and assault are decreasing, public awareness of the problem has heightened, largely through media reports of violent incidents. Employers are exhorted to address the problem of workplace violence and are offered a variety of programs and processes to prevent its occurrence. Many techniques, however, conflict with values that are critical to achieving sustainable peace. We focus on types of workplace violence that are triggered by organizational factors. From among the plethora of recommendations, we identify those responses that are most and least consistent with positive peace. We find that processes that promote privacy, transparency, and employee rights hold the most promise for peacemaking. We submit that such structures and processes can be transportable beyond the workplace to promote peace locally, nationally, and globally.workplace violence, employee rights, sustainable peace, and corporate governance
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