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Members' Ability (member + ability)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	50%

Selected Abstracts

Social Networks and Corporate Governance

EUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008
Avanidhar Subrahmanyam
G30; G34 Abstract We analyse frameworks that link corporate governance and firm values to governing boards' social networks and innovations in technology. Because agents create social networks with individuals with whom they share commonalities along the dimensions of social status and income, among other attributes, CEOs may participate in board members' social networks, which interferes with the quality of governance. At the same time, social connections with members of a board can allow for better evaluation of the members' abilities. Thus, in choosing whether to have board members with social ties to management, one must trade off the benefit of members successfully identifying high ability CEOs against the cost of inadequate monitoring due to social connections. Further, technologies like the Internet and electronic mail that reduce the extent of face-to-face networking cause agents to seek satisfaction of their social needs at the workplace, which exacerbates the impact of social networks on governance. The predictions of our model are consistent with recent episodes that appear to signify inadequate monitoring of corporate disclosures as well as with high levels of executive compensation. Additionally, empirical tests support the model's key implication that there is better governance and lower executive compensation in firms where networks are less likely to form. [source]

Relatives of persons with recently discovered serious mental illness: in need of support to become resource persons in treatment and recovery

JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2010
K. NORDBY cand. polit. rpn
Accessible summary ,,Relatives want the health workers to regard the patient not only as sick but also regard him/her as a person. Parents want to get involved at an early stage and find it important that their opinions and experiences are heard. The staff also express that relatives possess knowledge that should be important for them to receive. ,,The relatives underline the importance of an opening for hope to be present at all time, else you do not have the strength to cope with the situation. No matter how pessimistic the staff are, hope must be expressed. ,,The relatives want to know what happens after discharge. They do not always know what questions to ask before discharge as challenges are discovered gradually. They want to know how to behave and what to say to their family member with a psychiatric illness. When parents can impart their concerns and receive adjusted counselling their level of stress is reduced. ,,It is important to consider relatives as resource persons. The staff consider themselves as experts on psychosis and the parents as experts on their own children. Abstract A considerable amount of research on the treatment of young people suffering from serious mental illnesses states that good collaboration with relatives is essential for reducing relapse, improving recovery and enhancing quality of life for patients and relatives. The aim of this study was to explore and describe what facilitates active involvement for relatives in the treatment and rehabilitation of their family member. The present study is a part of a larger cooperative inquiry project carried out in a mental hospital in southern Norway focusing on improving practices for collaboration with relatives. This sub-study presents results from eight focus group interviews with relatives and staff members. Data were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the relatives had mostly positive experiences from their encounters with the staff, although some negative experiences were articulated. Both relatives and staff underlined the importance of developing a good encounter characterized by sharing information, giving guidance and support according to the relatives' needs as well as addressing existential issues. This was perceived as a necessary basis for the relatives to become active participants in the treatment and rehabilitation process. To activate this basis, the relatives are dependent on the staff members' ability to convey and nurture hope related to the patient's recovery and quality of life. [source]

Committees and Special Interests

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 2 2008
MIKE FELGENHAUER
This paper studies the aggregation of decentralized information in committees under open and closed voting in the presence of external influence. We show that under one-sided influence decision quality may be nonmonotonic in the committee members' ability. Furthermore, restricting the information of interest groups may reduce the bias toward special interest politics. This result holds in a single and in a common agency setting, where opposing interest groups' activities do not cancel out in equilibrium. Moreover, there are cases where benefits from increasing the number of decision makers can only be reaped if the committee's sessions are not public. [source]

Is therapist alliance or whole group cohesion more influential in group psychotherapy outcomes?

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2008
Trevor P. Crowe
This study examined the differential ability of early in treatment measures of therapeutic alliance (Working Alliance Inventory), group cohesion (California Psychotherapy Alliance Scale for Group) and group climate (Group Climate Questionnaire) to predict outcome in a 16-session dynamic group psychotherapy for adults with major depression. Six successful therapy groups with 30 patients receiving psychodynamic group therapy were studied. Patient perceptions of the therapist alliance was not related to outcome, however, perceptions of levels of conflict and group members' ability to work actively and purposefully in treatment did predict outcome. Future research should further investigate how patients' perceptions of the whole group influence their clinical improvement. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]