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Most multi-level studies are cross-sectional and focus on a certain point in time, though various changes within levels may occur over time. This chapter presents a statistical method for assessing whether the degree of interdependency within a group has changed over time, using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) as an indicator of the degree of homogeneity within the groups. It then shows how to apply this method using the SAS MIXED procedure. The problem was motivated by a study in which 120 subjects were divided into 40 groups of three. In a portion of the study, collective efficacy was the dependent variable measured for each subject under four different conditions (two levels of task interdependence at two points in time). ICC was used as a measure of group homogeneity with respect to collective efficacy, and the problem was how to compare the dependent ICCs associated with the different conditions.

In this chapter, we discuss Cohen and Doveh's (this volume) proposed protocol for testing differences in intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs). We believe that there are many research questions that can be addressed by this procedure. We provide several potential examples of using this procedure at the individual, group, and organizational/society levels of analysis. We do, however, raise concerns about interpreting the ICC as an index of within-group homogeneity.

The “upper echelon” literature has mainly produced static empirical studies on the impact of top management team composition on organizational outcomes, ignoring the dynamics of industrial demography. Organizational ecology explicitly studied the dynamics of organizational diversity at the population level, however largely ignoring how the entry and exit of executives shapes organizational diversity over time. In this paper, we try to integrate both streams of demography research and develop a multi-level behavioral theory of organizational diversity, linking selection processes at both levels of analysis. The behavioral mechanism connecting the two levels of analysis is the stylized empirical fact that small groups, including top management teams, routinely reproduce their demographic characteristics over time. We argue that, under certain conditions, the potent forces of team homogenization coevolve with those of population-level selection to sustain between-firm diversity.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the transient effects in a functionally graded photo-thermoelastic (TE) medium with gravity and rotation by considering two generalised TE theories: Lord–Shulman (LS) and Green–Lindsay (GL). The governing equations are derived in rectangular Cartesian coordinates for a two dimensional problem.

All the physical properties of the semiconductor are supposed to vary exponentially with distance. The analytical solution is procured by employing normal mode technique on the resulting non-dimensional coupled field equations with appropriate boundary conditions.

For the mechanically loaded thermally insulated surface, normal displacement, stress components, temperature distribution and carrier density are calculated numerically with the help of MATLAB software for a silicon semiconductor and displayed graphically. Some particular cases of interest have also been deduced from the present results.

The effects of rotation and non-homogeneity on the different physical fields are investigated on the basis of analytical and numerical results. Comparisons are made with the results predicted by GL theory in the presence and absence of gravity for different values of time. Comparisons are also made between the three theories in the presence of rotation, gravity and in-homogeneity. Such problems are very important in many dynamical systems.

The social context of expatriation is crucial for expatriate success, including for building local host country national (HCN) social network support that can facilitate effective adjustment through information exchange. However, expatriates have particular difficulties in breaking out of the expatriate bubble and building social ties with HCNs in certain countries, especially in Scandinavia. This paper focuses on the case of Denmark and explains why many expatriates find it difficult to make social connections with Danes.

This study involves a meta-ethnography of literature on Danish culture, as well as semistructured interviews with a total of 16 expatriates in Denmark.

Three main cultural elements are identified as crucial for explaining the difficulty expatriates face in connecting with Danes, namely homogeneity, the value placed on equality and the public–private divide. The homogeneity and inward-looking mentality make it more difficult for outsiders to break into the social circle. Outsiders have to earn the trust that is difficult to obtain, reflecting Denmark's high score on GLOBE's institutional collectivism.

In light of the challenges that many expatriates face in creating a new social network abroad, organizations can support them in several ways. The authors discuss context-specific strategies for making new social connections in Denmark, which may be usefully applied in other countries.

This study focuses on the context of expatriate social network formation and shows that cultural differences in socializing affect the ease with which expatriates can make connections with HCNs, who can have a positive impact on expatriate adjustment and performance success.

The purpose of this study is to segment and profile socially responsible investment (SRI) funds based on investment strategies they use. Specifically, the paper investigates how different SRI strategies are applied and how they are related to fund-level characteristics, with the goal of recognising their potential dominant combinations in SRI practice.

Cluster analysis was complemented with one-way ANOVA to classify 147 SRI funds from 11 European countries into different groups based on the diversification (number and type) and application (intensity of usage) of the investment strategies. Discriminant analysis and chi-square tests were conducted to profile the clusters. Financial performance was examined by running multiple hierarchical regression and dominance analyses to determine meaningfulness of particular investment strategies within each of the SRI fund clusters.

Three basic SRI fund clusters were recognised: strong-intensity strategic heterogeneity, weak-intensity strategic heterogeneity and weak-intensity strategic homogeneity. The combination of SRI strategies used in the weak-intensity strategic homogeneity cluster significantly explained the variance in mid-term financial returns.

Fund managers may use these results to make more informed investment decisions on the selection and the application of SRI strategies.

Financial industry has significant and broad and not only economic but also social implications. This research effort results in better understanding of the SRI universe, potentially leading to a broader consideration of the societal impact of financial investment.

The author provided useful insights into existing bundles of SRI strategies used in the European SRI market, recognised dominant investment strategies within SRI strategy portfolios and reported how strategic variety is related to fund-level characteristics.

Competition and attempts to increase market share between organizations play an important role in business ecology. It has been determined that intensity in the institutions and death among organizations especially are of great importance. Intensity and homogeny among the organizational population are very important in the evolutionary process for them to create modern forms of institution. We have used parametric variables to collect a set of data in order to understand competition and niche among organization population. The study investigates how competition and niche affect the cluster of hotel population and their survivability. The founding of each hotel organization is differently constructed internally and different segments of the hotel population respond heterogeneously to the general process of competition. The findings show how niche and different segments of hotel population affect new organizational establishment and the evolutionary dynamics of modern organization structure, using the city center hotels of Canakkale in Turkey.

This paper proposes the use of a gauge function as a measure of technical efficiency. The measure of technical inefficiency from a gauge function is desirable as the estimation of a gauge function is not subject to the endogeneity problem under the behavioral assumption of profit maximization in the competitive market.

The authors address three important properties of a gauge function, i.e. linear homogeneity, monotonicity and convexity in inputs and outputs, and show how such properties are utilized in its estimation. Then, the authors apply the estimation of a gauge function to US Blacksmiths in 1850 and 1880 to show that a failure to satisfy such properties may lead to an incorrect inference on the technical efficiency.

The authors find that the Blacksmiths in the 1850s were technically more efficient than the ones in the 1880s, indicating technical regress in Blacksmithing when the properties are satisfied.

This paper introduces a measure of technical inefficiency from a gauge function and shows how to estimate the gauge function parametrically for the measure. The authors show McFadden's gauge function and its properties, which differ from the properties of other distance functions. The authors emphasize linear homogeneity as well as monotonicity and convexity in inputs and outputs, which must be satisfied in the estimation of a gauge function.