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International specialisation in production via the development of international trade and factor movements is the basis of much of the developed world′s prosperity. This article is concerned with the forces that drive specialisation in manufacturing in the developed countries, and particularly the role played by regional economic integration in the European Community. A distinction is drawn between specialisation that takes place within (intra) and between (inter) industries with emphasis here on the latter. Specifically, the analysis seeks to explain differences in the sectoral composition of industry between pairs of countries using regression analysis. Factor endowments, per capita incomes and country size are found to influence industrial similarity. Membership of the EC and participation in the EC‐EFTA free trade areas are associated with increased inter‐industry specialisation. Movement towards a European Economic Space could accentuate this phenomenon, with important adjustment implications.

The international economic trade environment has been transformed in recent years by the rise of several regional trade blocks. The most important of these regional trade associations has been the European Union. Many Eastern European countries are currently applying to join this regional group, hoping that it will help their future economic growth. This paper examines the trade impact of EU membership on Portugal, a country that joined the EU in 1986. Portugal experienced significant positive and negative changes in its trade flows in the years following its EU entry. The analysis of the trade data for the first seven years following Portugal's accession shows a deterioration of the Portuguese trade deficit and a vary rapid re‐direction of Portuguese trade towards EU countries.

Based on the theoretical and scientific literature, academic and career decisions to pursue STEM fields are made at the high school level, and Black high school students are more likely to participate in career and technical education (CTE) programs but are less likely to participate in CTE programs related to STEM. Additionally, Black male students are less likely to have taken the necessary prerequisites to pursue STEM fields in postsecondary education. As a result, Black male high school students are underprepared to pursue STEM college majors and careers.

However, when students participate in STEM high school CTE programs (e.g., career academies), they eventually attain STEM occupations. In this chapter, we will examine the role that high school career academies play, from the perspectives of school stakeholders, in addressing the talent pipeline by broadening the participation of Black males in STEM majors and careers.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

The focus of lean has increasingly moved from a tools-based to a systems-based approach with particular emphasis on people. However, a conceptual framework for this is lacking. The people value stream concept provides a starting point for further discussion, research and practical application in this area.

In this conceptual paper, the author draws on their extensive experience with lean through 30 years of researching, leading and consulting in lean transformations.

The people value stream concept is presented together with a series of theoretical, practical and social implications for its application. These include: a rethinking of the role of executives in lean organisations; the importance of people and their experience of work; how the issue of wasted human potential might be addressed; how lean can further evolve; how, in addition to products, people can be made the focus in lean; and how pull and flow can be applied to the people value stream, including what competencies, learning and development, behaviours, accountability, social support and mental and physical wellbeing, are required or should be provided to employees throughout their careers.

This paper widens the existing discussion of people within lean. To the best of the author’s knowledge, for the first time in an academic paper, it discusses this within a lean context by proposing a conceptual people value stream model.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) have become complex social worlds. As such, playing these games requires more than accomplishing simple objectives: it is also a process of socialization into a community of gamers. Through our observation of players’ activities we describe how MMORPGs provide opportunities for learning social skills such as: how to meet people; how to manage a small group; how to coordinate and cooperate with people; and how to participate in sociable interaction with them. We show how this social learning is tied to three important types of social interaction that are characteristic of MMORPGs: players’ self‐organization, instrumental coordination, and downtime sociability. We conclude by discussing the societal impacts of our findings and how the features of MMORPGs could be repurposed in environments specifically designed for social learning.

Through a review of historically famous cases and a chronicle of neurotechnology development, this chapter discusses brain structure and brain function as two distinct yet interrelated paths to understand the relative contributions of anatomical and physiological mechanisms to the human brain–behavior relationship. From an organizational neuroscience perspective, the chapter describes over a dozen neuroimaging technologies that are classified under four groupings: morphologic, invasive metabolic, noninvasive metabolic, and electromagnetic. We then discuss neuroimaging variables that may be useful in social science investigations, and we underscore electroencephalography as a particularly useful modality for the study of individuals and groups in organizational settings. The chapter concludes by considering emerging science and novel brain technologies for the organizational researcher as we look to the future.

This chapter focuses on two aspects of the achievement gap – underachievement and low achievement among Black males in urban school contexts. More specifically, the authors explain several problems/issues confronting Black male students in P-12 gifted and talented, advanced placement, and special education programs, along with the school-to-prison pipeline – inequitable discipline in the form of suspensions and expulsions. We parse underrepresentation and overrepresentation for this student group. A central part of this discussion is grounded in the achievement gap literature on Black students in general with implications for Black males in particular. Another fundamental aspect of this discussion is the need for educators to adopt an anti-racist (social justice or civil rights) and cultural competence approach to their work, which means being equity-based and culturally responsive in philosophy and action. Suggestions for closing the achievement gap and otherwise improving the achievement of Black males are provided for educators. We also compel educators to go beyond talking about equity by setting quantifiable equity goals for minimum and maximum percentages (and numbers).