Transnational corporations and human resource development

Conclusions The relationships between TNCs and human resource development are complex and multi-faceted. The operation of TNCs have the potential to make a considerable contribution to human resource development, particularly in developing countries. The contributions of TNCs to human resource development lie mainly in the areas of education and training. In education, their role is largely confined to direct or indirect investment in the provision of tertiary-level education, especially in business management. The major role of TNCs in the development of human resources stems from the training and other learning opportonities they provide to their staff in various forms. Such training may be valuable for workers in developing countries and others in which opportunities for acquiring vocational, technical and management skills are limited. Training and other forms of learning provided by TNCs are directed towards all categories of workers, although the main focus is on managerial and technical personnel. Evidence suggests that the size and scope of TNCs enable them to provide substantial formal and informal learning opportunities for employees. Moreover, the learning provided by TNCs often relates to new or different production and management methods. Under appropriate conditions, the contributions of TNCs to knowledge, skills and management experties of their employees can be disseminated more widely in the host economy and complement domestic human resource development in promoting growth and strengthening competitiveness. As the tendency of TNCs to pursue complex integration strategies proceeds and the links between parent companies and their affiliates become more complex, the training requirements that are needed to manage successfully the corporate production system and its geographically dispersed segments are likely to increase and become more sophisticated. Foreign affiliates may be progressively involved in higher value-added and more specialized activities, and more training needed to improve the quality of local personnel. The commitment to training in affiliates could be considerably reinforced by the growing interdependence between operations at home and in the various affiliates. This may lead to a wider distribution of training packages throughout the TNC. The trend towards complex integration strategies and the increasing competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) make it more important than ever for developing countries to build up their own human resource capabilities. In addition to providing the basis for the development of the domestic economy, such capabilities would allow labour and national enterprises to interact more effectively with TNCs. They would contribute to increasing the volume and raising the quality and sophistication of the FDI that a country could attract, thereby strengthening the prospects for further human resource development. At present, only a limited number of developing countries attract sizeable shares of FDI, particularly in areas that are technologically sophisticated. For those countries, foreign affiliates linked to TNCs’ value chains are an important complement to national programmes and efforts for upgrading human resources. However, other developing countries that do not-offer similar locational advantages may also benefit, in terms of improving their human resource development from FDI and the emerging integrated international production system. They need to consider how to formulate and co-ordinate policies so as to maximize the benefits to their human resource capabilities. Original language: English Padma Mallampally (India) Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. From 1982 to 1988 she was employed by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok on transnational corporations. Prior to that she was a lecturer in economics at Delhi University. She now works as a Transnational Corporations Affairs Officer, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New York.     

Essential oils and fragrances from natural sources

The study of a perfume includes extraction of scented ingredients from botanicals, behavior of chemical components, and careful blending of scents to achieve the desired composition. Essential oils may be found in roots, flowers, leaves, fruit, seeds or bark of the plant. Growing and harvesting conditions are optimized for the production of the best fragrances. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Setting Standards for English Foreign Language Assessment: Methodology,Validation, and a Degree of Arbitrariness

Cut‐scores were set by expert judges on assessments of reading and listening comprehension of English as a foreign language (EFL), using the bookmark standard‐setting method to differentiate proficiency levels defined by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments contained stratified item samples drawn from extensive item pools, calibrated using Rasch models on the basis of examinee responses of a German nationwide assessment of secondary school language performance. The results suggest significant effects of item sampling strategies for the bookmark method on cut‐score recommendations, as well as significant cut‐score judgment revision over cut‐score placement rounds. Results are discussed within a framework of establishing validity evidence supporting cut‐score recommendations using the widely employed bookmark method.     

Leg Power

Leg power is an essential component for success in sports and athletic performance. Therefore, the leg power measurement may help athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, and rehabilitation specialists in selecting, treating, and training athletes for a specific sport. Using a conventional ‘jump and reach’ test, one can accurately predict the leg power and success in anaerobic‐type sports. Nineteen untrained male subjects performed ‘jump and reach’ vertical jumps on a force platform. Power values were calculated from the force versus time data obtained from the force platform. A regression equation was obtained to predict the power values using the weight of an individual and the ‘jump and reach’ height as independent variables. The regression equation is given by p = ‐666.3+14.74 [Mass (kg)] +1925.72 [Height (m)]; [R‐square = 0.69, p<0.05].     

Effect of Hemodialysis on Plasma Myeloperoxidase Activity in End Stage Renal Disease Patients

End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on hemodialysis (HD) have an increased oxidative stress, with a high risk of atherosclerosis and other co-morbid conditions. Recent studies have suggested that myeloperoxidase (MPO)—mediated oxidative stress may play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular complications in dialysis patients. Furthermore, dialysis treatment ‘per se’ can aggravate oxidative stress. Hence this study was designed to determine whether HD leads to an alteration in the plasma levels of MPO and malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of oxidative stress in ESRD patients on maintenance HD. To study the effect of HD, plasma MPO and MDA were determined before and after HD in forty ESRD patients (24 men and 16 women, age between 8 and 71 years, median being 40.5 years) on maintenance HD. Plasma MPO and MDA were assayed by spectrophotometric methods. Haematological and other biochemical parameters were obtained from patients’ case records. Plasma MPO and MDA levels were significantly higher after HD when compared with pre-dialysis levels (p < 0.05). There was no correlation between MPO and MDA (r = 0.184, p = 0.10) and other biochemical parameters (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant correlation between MPO and MDA with haemodialysis vintage (p < 0.05). In univariate regression analysis duration of HD (β = 1.470, p = 0.045, β = 0.388, p = 0.013), was independently associated with MPO and MDA. Although HD is indispensable for survival of patients with ESRD, it is fraught with undesirable side-effects, such as an increase in the plasma MPO and MDA levels. The elevated levels of MPO contribute to the increased oxidative stress as free radicals are produced by the reaction catalyzed by it.     

Initiation,Experimentation, Implementation of innovations: The case for Radio Frequency Identification Systems

This research primarily examines the stages hypothesis of the process of technology adoption by management personnel of organizations in the supply chain sector involving the Initiation, Experimentation, and Implementation stages. Further, this research examines key antecedents that may influence the various stages, including top management support, external pressure, and organization size. Using responses provided by top management representatives of 210 supply chain organizations on their organizations’ engagement with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies, this research finds that the stages hypothesis holds for RFID technologies. Specifically, organizations were seen to sequentially progress through the Initiation, Experimentation, and Implementation stages. Over 80% of organizations, who had reached the Implementation stage of adoption, had gone through the Initiation and Experimentation stages as well. Additionally, the data showed that the antecedents exerted varying levels of influences on the three stages. Top management support strongly influenced all three stages; external pressure influenced the Initiation and Implementation stages, and organizational size influenced Experimentation and Implementation stages. The paper discusses several implications for research and practice.     

A general result on non-existence of finite-time stable equilibria in fractional-order systems

It is well known that a fractional-order system with a continuous right hand side does not have finite-time stable equilibria, but the discontinuous case has remained elusive in literature. Thus, based on novel mathematical tools, recently published in literature, it is demonstrated that attaining finite-time stable equilibria is not possible for a fractional-order system, not even in the case of an impulsive or discontinuous feedback. In consequence, it is demonstrated that, for a fractional-order system, a Lyapunov stable equilibrium cannot be at the same time finite-time stable.