5,915 research outputs found
A reconstruction, using anthropological methods, of the second economy of Georgia
This study aims to explore the second economy of Soviet Georgia by reconstructing aspects of its social organisation and the workings of selected examples of second economy activity. Since its principal research mode is participant observation, this involved living for over a year within a community of recent migrants from Soviet Georgia to Israel. This experience offered opportunities:
a) to gain access to everyday behaviour in order to establish that culture's basic values, and
b) to build up detailed and cross-checkable case studies. In so doing, it aimed to exploit the resources of a living community by treating it as a data-base.
Its further aim, however, is not merely to obtain details of cases and to understand these by placing them in their cultural setting. These cases, when considered against the background of a people's mores and values, provide the building blocks which allow us to understand the wider formation of which they are a part.
The study then aims to engage in the secondary analysis of these cases in order to construct a model of Soviet Georgia's system of second economy production and distribution. While traditional explanations focus on Georgia's natural resources as the major reason for its flourishing Second Economy, this study
looks at primary cultural patterns and daily behaviour conduct which underlie the social expressions of a people. It then identifies the Social Support Network as a focus of personalised relationships in Soviet Georgia. The Social Support Network is also the power base of Second Economy activity. The way the network operates and the shape it takes determines the scope of its operations and the ability of members to function as agents in that economy.
After setting up the core values of Soviet Georgia's society and their manifestations in the Second Economy, two detailed case studies examine the structure and operation of the production and distribution of goods. These are supplemented by six accounts of crisis events which allow us a close look into the way the informal system copes with emergencies.
All of this enables a reassessment of Soviet Georgia's Second Economy, the sources of its rapid expansion and unrivalled success in the Soviet system as well as possible future developments
Branching processes, the max-plus algebra and network calculus
Branching processes can describe the dynamics of various queueing systems, peer-to-peer systems, delay tolerant networks, etc. In this paper we study the basic stochastic recursion of multitype branching processes, but in two non-standard contexts. First, we consider this recursion in the max-plus algebra where branching corresponds to finding the maximal offspring of the current generation. Secondly, we consider network-calculus-type deterministic bounds as introduced by Cruz, which we extend to handle branching-type processes. The paper provides both qualitative and quantitative results and introduces various applications of (max-plus) branching processes in queueing theory
Career progress and career barriers: Women MBA graduates in Canada and the UK
This article explores the career progress of female MBA graduates in Canada and the UK and the nature of career barriers experienced in each context. Results suggest that while Canadian women have similar career profiles to men, women in the UK lag behind their male counterparts after graduation from the course. At the same time, UK women encounter more intractable career barriers in the form of negative attitudes and prejudice. A model of the âMBA effectâ is proposed in terms of how the qualification may impact on career barriers. This incorporates three different types of barriers which are seen to operate at the individual level (person centred barriers) and at the intermediate/organizational level (organizational culture and attitudes, corporate practices) as well as, at the macro level, the impact of legislative frameworks. Results from the UK and Canadian surveys are discussed in relation to this model and in the context of feminist theory and women in management literature
In the age of âliquid modernityâ: self-initiated expatriates in Crete, their multi-generational families and the community
In this paper, we aim to broaden and deepen the current debate on expatriation in business and management discourse, and especially self-initiated expatriation. Following Baumanâs [Liquid Modernity (2000), Cambridge: Polity; Liquid Love, On the Frailty of Human Bonds (2003), Cambridge: Polity] critique of postmodern society and, employing an anthropological lens, we examine work-related expatriation as set within a wider life context. Whereas conventional expatriation research focus is on the workplace, the focus of this study is the wider community. We take a longitudinal approach demonstrating the essential fluid nature of expatriation in general, self-initiated expatriation in particular. We show the importance of multi-generational links as overall critical considerations in effecting decisions to move or stay; we also show how over time, changes in circumstances, career plans and demands of significant others, drive the expatriate agenda. We pay particular attention to nontraditional expatriates and issues of health and disability in the extended family. Finally, we document the importance of the wider family and of the community in the process of adjustment and in engendering a sense of belonging
Informal economic relations and organizations: everyday organizational life in Soviet and post-Soviet economies
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the role of informal economic relations in the day-to-day working of organizations, thereby opening a way to theorizing and informed practice. We will present and discuss about the manifestation of informality in âeverydayâ reality of Soviet and transformation economies. Informed by Cultural Theory and in particular the work of Gerald Mars, we are taking account ontologically and methodologically of Labor Process theory
Design/methodology/approach
Through presentation of ethnographic data of detailed accounts and case vignettes in production and retail in the Soviet period of the late 1970s and 1980s and from the construction sector in contemporary Russia, with a focus on the labor process, we inform and discuss key processes in the informal working of organizations.
Findings
In the Soviet system the informal economy co-existed in symbiosis with the formal command economy, implicitly adopting a âlive and let liveâ attitude. In addition, informal relations were essential to the working of work organizations, sustaining workersâ ânegative controlâ and bargaining power. Contemporary Russian capitalism, while embracing informal economic activities, a legacy of the Soviet period, advocates an âeach to his ownâ approach which retains the flexibility but not the bargaining space for employees. That facilitates exploitation, particularly of the most vulnerable workers, with dire consequences for the work process.
Research limitations/implications
The paper provides a platform for theorizing about the role and place of informal economic relations in organizations. Of importance to managerial practice, the paper informs on those aspects of the work routine that remain hidden from view and are often excluded from academic discourse. The social implications are profound, shedding light on central issues such as recruitment, income distribution, health & safety and âderegulated forms of employment.
Originality/value
The paper examines economic behavior under different economic-political regimes demonstrating continuities and changes during a fundamental social-economic reorientation of an important regional economy, through close observation at the micro and meso-level of, respectively, the workplace, organizations and industry, outlining theoretical, practical and social implications
Career mobility in a global era: advances in managing expatriation and repatriation
The surge of interest in expatriation and repatriation within the broader discourse on labor mobility of professionals and high-skilled labor, human capital development and the theory and practice of people management, serves as the backdrop to this paper. We propose that expatriation and repatriation be framed in the context of global careers and embedded in the wider social-economic environment of globalization through the lens of a career ecosystem theory. We chart the evolution of scholarly publications on career mobility over the past four decades and highlight current trends, in particular the emergence of self-initiated expatriation as a pivotal change in the direction of expatriation studies and derived practice. We assess the rigor of empirical findings, weigh theoretical underpinnings, offer a research agenda for future research and outline managerial implications
Microscopic thickness determination of thin graphite films formed on SiC from quantized oscillation in reflectivity of low-energy electrons
Low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM) was used to measure the reflectivity of
low-energy electrons from graphitized SiC(0001). The reflectivity shows
distinct quantized oscillations as a function of the electron energy and
graphite thickness. Conduction bands in thin graphite films form discrete
energy levels whose wave vectors are normal to the surface. Resonance of the
incident electrons with these quantized conduction band states enhances
electrons to transmit through the film into the SiC substrate, resulting in
dips in the reflectivity. The dip positions are well explained using
tight-binding and first-principles calculations. The graphite thickness
distribution can be determined microscopically from LEEM reflectivity
measurements.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
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