International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

Number 3, 2014

122 – 124
Rationale to the Crisis of Nokia Smartphone Portfolio

Authors: Ch. Mahmood Anwar

Abstract

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Number of views: 431

Nokia's competitive advantage has quickly vanished despite spending more than $40 billion on R&D facet of the business in the last decade, which is a multiple of four than Apple's expenditures on the same segment (Troianovski and Grundberg, 2012). This fact is astounding for stakeholders and dogmatic for shareholders of the company as the company is in 'crisis'. Although, many whispers and commentaries have surrounded the market entirely, but as far as my opinion is concerned, I believe to look inside the strategy dimension to get a significant clarification to the question. I would be agreed to accept that people still love Nokia devices due to their past performance but Nokia has lost its biggest market share and the strategy to sustain the attained competitive advantage is totally invisible.

125 – 143
A Union Representative's Perspective of Declining Union Membership

Authors: Melvin J. Rivers; Tim Truitt

Abstract

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Number of views: 431

Union membership has declined 24.2 percent since 1945. Declining union membership leads to economic losses for labor unions. The problem is relevant to scholars and the labor movement, requiring a deeper understanding of union membership decline. In this qualitative study, experiences with declining union membership are explored with union representatives in Los Angeles County. The conceptual framework uses three models: the utility of union membership, human motivation, and collective bargaining to identify relevant elements of union membership decisions. Twenty face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants who had a minimum of 3 years experience as a full-time union representative. The data were coded, and themes developed using the modified van Kaam method and NVivo 10 software. Three primary emergent themes resulted: (a) globalism is the primarily perceived cause of declining union membership, (b) unions should be more effective in collective bargaining, and (c) communication with union members must increase. The results from this study could be used to improve internal union communication, increase operational efficiency, and develop leadership training. The implications for positive social change include new insights to support labor union leaders in efforts to identify relevant needs, increase membership, retain jobs, and improve the economic health of their members.

144 – 163
The Cognition of Civil Servants and Citizens Concerning Policy Resource Allocation in Kaohsiung City in Taiwan

Authors: Yu-tien Huang; Ming-shen Wang

Abstract

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Number of views: 422

Kaohsiung City is a special municipality in Southern Taiwan. The difference between northern and southern cities in terms of public investments, industrial structures, and social perspectives has been a problem in Taiwan because talented people keep moving from the south to the north. The difference in cognition of government's allocation of policy resources between professional civil servants and the general public demonstrates the conflict between "public opinion" and "professionalism". This study adopted the social judgment theory (SJT) to examine the cognition of individuals affected by policy resource allocation regarding the allocation of policy resources made by the Government of Kaohsiung City. The SJT is applicable to real-world circumstances in the field of judgment and analysis. The research result indicated that the affected individuals were concerned that the government lost its focus when allocating policy resources. Obscure schemes and plans for policymaking and election-oriented decision making significantly impact government allocation of policy resources. The essential problem of policy resource allocation in Kaohsiung City is that although the supply of resources is higher than the demand, the types of resources do not meet the requirements of the demand.