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Purpose: This study examines the affective dimension of racial threat. Most modern studies of threat are framed through Blumer's group position theory and measure threat as increases in levels of traditional racism or perceptions of competition. These measurements neglect to operationalize Blumer's affective conceptualizations of threat.

Methodology/Approach: Building on Blumer's theoretical framework, we outline threat's affective dimension through a presentation of new survey items designed to capture what threat feels like.

Findings: Using factor and regression analyses, we demonstrate how affect is distinct from perceived competition, and how it is positively associated with Blumer's theoretically predicted outcome of racial prejudice, in the form of increased levels of racial resentment.

Practical Implications: Future research by sociologists and other social and behavioral scientists should explicitly consider threat's affective dimension in order to provide a more robust picture of racial prejudice in the United States.

Bankruptcy prediction has attracted a great deal of research in the data mining/machine learning community, due to its significance in the world of accounting, finance, and investment. This chapter examines the influence of different dimension reduction techniques on decision tree model applied to the bankruptcy prediction problem. The studied techniques are principal component analysis (PCA), sliced inversed regression (SIR), sliced average variance estimation (SAVE), and factor analysis (FA). To focus on the impact of the dimension reduction techniques, we chose only to use decision tree as our predictive model and “undersampling” as the solution to the issue of data imbalance. Our computation shows that the choice of dimension reduction technique greatly affects the performances of predictive models and that one could use dimension reduction techniques to improve the predictive power of the decision tree model. Also, in this study, we propose a method to estimate the true dimension of the data.

Like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Korean Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) has implemented many changes to improve customer satisfaction since 1999. However, the Customer Satisfaction Index for KIRS services was low when compared with that of private companies. Therefore, it is important that the KIRS identify which dimensions of its services have an impact on its customers’ satisfaction. In this regard, the objectives of this study are: (1) to categorize KIRS services into a smaller number of dimensions; and (2) to find which dimensions have a significant effect on customer satisfaction. Data were collected using questionnaires filled out by staff accountants in tax preparation firms in Korea, and 322 questionnaires were analyzed by structural equation modeling using LISREL. Analysis of data showed that the respondents evaluated KIRS services in terms of seven dimensions: Politeness, Service by Telephone/Fax, Accuracy/Quickness, Easiness of Requesting Services, Cleanness of Office, Accommodation, and Equitable Service. Therefore, the current approach of the KIRS, which has developed diagnostic tools without identifying the dimensions of its services, needs to be changed. Also, the three dimensions (Equitable Service, Politeness, and Accuracy/Quickness) had significantly positive impacts on customer satisfaction. This result implies that the KIRS may need to focus its efforts more on these three dimensions, rather than on all dimensions of its services. In addition, because of the similarities in the changes of the KIRS and those of the IRS, the findings of this study may be applied to improving some parts of the IRS.

This chapter aims to consider workplace spirituality from a cross-cultural perspective. The terms workplace spirituality and culture are so intangible, and both start with the attitude and behavior of humans but are meaningful in a community. Because of the constraint of understanding these abstract settings, it is necessary to define and specify the dimensions of both concepts to achieve the aim of this chapter. In this regard, the section starts with the conceptuality of workplace spirituality and the dimensions of the term, which cumulate at individual, group, and organizational levels. It goes with the part of cultural dimensions in the light of Hofstede's (2001) direction, Chhokar, Brodbeck, and House's (2007) extension, and Sharma's (2010) derivation of cultural dimensions for national, organizational, and individual levels, respectively. After joining the dots, the chapter focuses on one of the most sacred research areas for academic literature, cross-cultural differences, and workplace spirituality. The last part of the chapter is the conclusion to point to final notes about the concepts and help guide future studies.

Organizational studies of time tend to be done by academic researchers rather than practitioners. This chapter builds on academic research to provide a practitioner perspective by reviewing time situated in theory and constructing two phenotypes: timescapes of business and social time. These timescapes are defined by six dimensions, each with a social and business time parameter. Organizational business and social timescapes have different functions and applications. Timescapes, with their concomitant dimensions and sets of parameters, are used differently by senior managers, middle managers, and entry-level managers. Three multi-level approaches (self, dyadic, and social relationships), composition theory, and compilation theory confirm these three managerial timescape usages. After a review of the theoretical bases of the timescape constructs and a brief discussion of the grounded, anthropological, research methodology used in the study, this chapter applies timescape theory and models to an extended time case study of the Procter & Gamble Company that frames the company's timescape understanding and use from a practitioner's view.