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With U.S. health care costs increasing at three times the rate of inflation and Americans spending 50 percent more on health care than any other nation, health care practitioners will most certainly continue to focus upon cost containment and budgets (Guthrie, 1991). However, as suggested by some experts (e.g. Lytle and Mokwa, 1992), managerial approaches preoccupied with containing costs and financial budgeting are no longer sufficient for success, or maybe even survival, in today's intensely competitive marketplace. The major transformations in structure that have taken place in the health care industry throughout the 1980s call for more proactive and strategic approaches to planning and managing if health care organizations are to be successful in today's highly competitive environment.

Develops and presents Importance‐Satisfaction Analysis as a simple and highly pragmatic organizational diagnostic tool for both managers and consultants. Specifically, the importance‐performance framework presented in the marketing literature has been adapted for application in the management of human resource by changing the model′s external/strategic (the consumer and the product) orientation to an internal/operational (the employee and the job) focus. Uses data from a major national laboratory to illustrate step‐by‐step application of this methodology. Discusses practical advantages of the framework and implications for managers and consultants. Simplicity and ease of application, adaptability to various data collection techniques (questionnaires, interviews, group analysis, etc.), early identification of areas requiring action, priority‐based resource allocation implications, and modest cost are a few of the virtues of this managerial/consulting tool.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how gay employees, as labeled deviants, cope with heterosexist harassment at work in an Asian culture of hegemonic heterosexual masculinity, using the modified labeling theory.

Using qualitative research approach, in-depth interviews were carried out with 16 self-identified gay employees.

Results revealed how the coping strategies of gay employees, in the face of harassment, are entwined with the labeling and stigma leading to diverse and complex coping strategies. Several broader coping strategies were thus identified based on whether the participants accepted the label of deviance and stigma and whether they were open about their sexuality. These broader coping strategies are support seeking, confrontation, inaction, quitting and, stigma and labeling avoidance strategies. Under these broader strategies, there were also sub strategies such as seeking social support, organizational support, legal support the support of the wise, as well as secrecy and social withdrawal.

These findings will advance the knowledge in coping strategies of heterosexist harassments at work as well as knowledge in harassment of gay employees, in hegemonic heterosexual cultures.

Learning styles are incorporated more and more in e‐education, mostly in order to provide adaptivity with respect to the learning styles of students. For identifying learning styles, at the present time questionnaires are widely used. While such questionnaires exist for most learning style models, their validity and reliability is an important issue and has to be investigated to guarantee that the questionnaire really assesses what the learning style theory aims at. In this paper, we focus on the Index of Learning Styles (ILS), a 44‐item questionnaire to identify learning styles based on Felder‐ Silverman learning style model. The aim of this paper is to analyse data gathered from ILS by a data‐driven approach in order to investigate relationships within the learning styles. Results, obtained by Multiple Correspondence Analysis and cross‐validated by correlation analysis, show the consistent dependencies between some learning styles and lead then to conclude for scarce validity of the ILS questionnaire. Some latent dimensions present in data, that are unexpected, are discussed. Results are then compared with the ones given by literature concerning validity and reliability of the ILS questionnaire. Both the results and the comparisons show the effectiveness of data‐driven methods for patterns extraction even when unexpected dependencies are found and the importance of coherence and consistency of mathematical representation of data with respect to the methods selected for effective, precise and accurate modelling.

The International Human Resource Management literature has paid less attention to the selection of expatriates and the decision-making criteria with regard to such selection, than to issues relating to expatriates’ role, performance, adjustment, success, and failure. Yet, before expatriates commence their assignments, they need to be selected. The purpose of this book chapter is to provide an overview of issues related specifically to expatriate selection. In particular, the chapter traces the chronological development of selection over the last five decades or so, from prior to 1970 until present. The chapter subsequently identifies five expatriate selection criteria that have been applied in regard to traditional international assignments, but are also relevant to alternative assignments.

We begin by reviewing expatriate selection historically and its position within expatriate management based on changing business environments. Then, drawing from over five decades of literature on international assignments, we identify and discuss five organizational, individual, and contextual level criteria for selecting expatriates.

Emphasis on different issues tends to characterize expatriate selection during the various decades since the literature has taken up the topic. The chapter describes those issues, following a chronological perspective. In addition, the chapter organizes the various selection criteria in five clusters: organization philosophy, technical competence, relational abilities, personal characteristics, and spouse and family situation.

While there are studies on expatriate selection, there is more to be understood with regard to the topic. Provided all other expatriation phases are subsequent, if selection is not understood in detail, the foundations of studying phases and processes that take place once expatriates are selected may not be sound. While the scholarly conversations of other expatriate-related issues should continue, the international human resource management literature can absorb more analyses on selection. A better understanding of expatriate selection will assist its better management. The chapter provides a basis for human resource management professionals to be able to map the various criteria for selection, and decide, under particular circumstances, which ones to prioritize and why.

The chapter brings clarity to a topic that has remained less researched when compared to other areas of interest related to expatriates and their international assignments by tracing the historical development of this important phase of the expatriation process. In addition, the chapter organizes a number of selection criteria along five core areas and discusses each of them to gain insights that help explain expatriate selection in greater detail.

This study examines perceived transparency of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing communication and measures its impact on consumers' trust, attitudes, and the intention to recommend the test to others.

An online survey of US–based adults (over 18 years of age) (N = 271) was administered by the online panel company Qualtrics Panels. The sample consisted of participants who have taken a DTC genetic test previously because only existing consumers could provide insight into companies' transparency about the entire genetic testing process (including the communication before, during, and after) as they experienced it. Participants were asked questions that measured intention to recommend DTC genetic tests to others, trust, attitude toward the DTC testing, and perceptions of transparency of the DTC companies' communication.

Results indicated that consumers who perceive DTC genetic testing companies to be transparent in their communication tend to trust the genetic testing process more, have more positive attitudes toward DTC genetic tests, and are more likely to recommend the tests to others.

This study integrates corporate communication and science communication through the theoretical framework of transparency. It empirically demonstrates that message transparency is key to increasing the publics' trust, attitude and behavioral intentions toward companies that involve sensitive health information or online privacy.

This paper answers previous calls to explore the organizational approach of science communication in the context of the under-examined companies in the science and health sectors, specifically the DTC genetic testing industry.

The purpose of this study is to investigate Koreans' preferences for FCDM versus SDM and explored the influence of Asian cultural values on decision-making in the context of managing chronic illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Shared decision-making (SDM) emphasizes collaboration between providers and service recipients to decide on the best treatment options. However, it may not fully account for the role of families in managing chronic illness, particularly for people from Eastern cultural backgrounds who value active participation from their families in decisions. In response, family-centered decision-making (FCDM) has been proposed as an alternative approach. Using a vignette experiment design, data (n = 316) were collected from Koreans in the US and in Korea who were randomly presented with either SDM or FCDM processes for reaching T2DM treatment decisions. In addition to demographic information, participants reported on three dimensions of their decision-making experience: satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, and perspective-taking. They also rated their Asian cultural values and familiarity with T2DM. Results show better satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, and perspective taking for FCDM compared to SDM when examined in context of treatment types and perceived illness severity. Moderation effects were found for familiarity of illness, with familiarity effects varying by perceived severity. Study findings provided some evidence in favor of FCDM in Asian communities addressing the disabilities and chronic illness of a family member. Although the current study investigated treatment decisions for T2DM during doctor's visits, FCDM has shown potential to be applied in other service settings.

This paper aims to examine the housing experiences of Fijian migrants in Auckland, New Zealand, in response to recent calls for greater attention to be given to the housing experiences of a wider range of migrant groups. The paper seeks to extend the understanding of the housing experiences of a migrant group that have the economic and social resources that are likely to see them achieve housing outcomes beyond the usual “niche” and limited segments of the housing market usually available to migrants.

This paper used a questionnaire survey designed to uncover the housing experiences and levels of satisfaction of Fijian migrants living in Auckland. Developing on the works of literature that have addressed ethnic residential segregation and migrant housing outcomes, this paper addresses the housing experiences of a well-established migrant community that possesses significant human capital (skills, education, English language proficiency) but occupies a hybrid cultural identity.

The majority of the 84 respondents had attained homeownership. Homeownership was prized for conveying a sense of “independence” and was aligned with notions of Fijian Indian culture. Both homeowners and renters expressed high levels of satisfaction with the locational attributes of their homes. While the majority of renters aspired to homeownership, a lack of affordable housing was noted. Homeowners recognised that they had benefitted from accessing homeownership when house prices were more affordable and believed that current and future migrants would struggle to buy a house in the Auckland housing market.

In the absence of a sampling frame, this research employed a purposive sampling technique that distributed questionnaires among Fijian migrant community groups and ethnic businesses. As the first study of its kind into the housing experiences of Fijian migrants in Auckland, the sample size (84 respondents) and geographical distribution of respondents was deemed sufficient to offer insights into the community’s housing experiences. The findings of this research could be used to develop a larger-scale analysis of the housing experiences of Fijian migrants in Auckland.

While considerable attention has been given to documenting the locational distribution of migrants in Auckland, this is the first study to examine the housing experiences of Fijian migrants. The paper adds to the understandings of the variety of migrant housing outcomes by focussing on the experiences of a well-established migrant group that possesses significant human capital and occupies a distinct ethnic position within Pacific migration flows.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents of media attention in the context of early-stage startups. While many studies have examined the implications of media attention on firm outcomes, few have investigated the antecedents especially in the context of early-stage startups who significantly lack organizational legitimacy. This study attempts to answer an important and yet unanswered question: What type of startups are more likely to be covered by the media?

Using Poisson regression, the authors analyze all media articles written about 315 early-stage ventures in the USA.

The authors found that startups with a prestigious investor or a patent have more media attention and startups with a female founder or prior entrepreneurial experience have less. The results suggest that entrepreneurial signals do play a role in media attention, but that the signal–signaler relationship may be more complicated than that in the investment literature.

Entrepreneurs may benefit from signaling less noisy and unambiguous signals that the media pays more attention to, such as getting an endorsement from reputable third parties early on, which might activate noisy signals.

The contribution of this paper is to extend the current literature on media attention and entrepreneurship by shedding light on attributes of startups that may help or hurt the volume of media attention in an uncertain and noisy environment.