Mapping the Collaborative Platform Economy Business Practice

This study aims to develop a typological configuration that characterizes the full spectrum of collaborative platform economy business practice in the real world. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a large-scale data set which contains information on 1,335 representative platforms in more than 60 countries on five continents, covering almost all collaborative platform economy business practices mentioned in academic journals and public media. Leveraging the k-means clustering method, an empirical typology comprising seven categories of collaborative platform economy business practice is proposed: collaborative support platform, resource supply platform, authentic C2C platform, C2C mutualized mobility platform, hybrid service platform, B2C service platforms, collaborative finance platform. In addition, with the help of operating status data of the collaborative platform economy, a cross-comparative analysis was also carried out on the category differences and geographic differences.

The Unusual Case of Sexual Homicide Against Males: Comparisons and Classification

This study examines the specificities of sexual homicides involving male victims. First, this study aims to identify characteristics specific to SH involving male victims by comparing them to SH involving female victims and determine whether rational choice approach and routine activities theories are useful to explain the crime-commission process. Second, this study aims to provide the first empirical classification of SH involving male victims. The sample used in this research comes from the Sexual Homicide International Database (SHIelD) including 662 cases of cases—100 cases involving male victims and 552 involving female victims. Bivariate and multivariate analysis are performed to examine the differences between the two groups and latent class analysis is used to generate an empirical classification of cases involving male victims. Findings indicate the victim’s gender plays an important role in the different choices made by sexual homicide offenders of male victims to successfully complete their crime. They adapted their crime-commission process to overcome the risks associated with a physical confrontation with a male victim (i.e., target selection, approach strategy, method of killing). Classification analysis suggests that it exists three different types of sexual murderers assaulting male victims: the robber sexual murderer, the sadistic sexual murderer, and the pedophile murderer. This research proposes the first empirical typology of sexual homicide involving male victims and provides both a true picture of the reality and a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon.

ONLINE EDUCATION IN A REGIONAL UNIVERSITY BEFORE AND AFTER THE PANDEMIC: MOTIVES, PROBLEMS, POTENTIAL

The article examines the phenomenon of online education, which is very actively spreading in foreign and domestic education systems, but requiring monitoring of this process. The problems of online education are analyzed according to the assessments of domestic and foreign authors, including the materials of annual conferences held by the Sloan Consortium Corporation (now Online Learning Consortium (OLC)). The data of a sociological study of the motivation and readiness of online education actors at a regional university using the methodology of nonparametric statistics are presented. The cluster analysis, carried out by the K-means method, made it possible to obtain an empirical typology of tutors and students of Dubna State University and identify target groups among university members of faculty as online course developers and among university students as consumers of an online educational product. A comprehensive analysis of the theoretical and empirical blocks made it possible to identify trends in the development of online education, problem areas associated not only with the economic component, but also with motivational reinforcement, which can be considered among the factors of managerial decision-making by the university administration.

How different types of performance management systems affect organizational performance?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between different types of performance management system (PMS) and organizational performance. The main task is based on an empirical typology of PMS to show how the different types of PMS are related to organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach The empirical typology is used on the creation on the sample of Estonian and Finnish firms. Findings The results show that the highest performance out of the four clusters is achieved by firms from strategy-focused multi-level and strategy-focused one-level clusters. They also show the highest quality of the key characteristics of PMS. Firms from the not-strategy-focused one-level cluster have the lowest performance and quality of the key characteristics of PMS. Practical implications The findings give a set of consistent guidelines on how to develop a PMS to achieve high organizational performance in different situations. These give hints, if strategic objectives are important to firm, then for achieving these objectives, also a strong emphasis of strategic aspects in PMS is necessary to gain performance; if the firm suffers from a lack of strategy, the firm should invest on the information aspects of PMS to get more relevant information to increase performance; if the firm, however, decides to move more strategy-oriented, then the strategy aspects of the PMS should get relatively more attention than other aspects in PMS, and they should be developed with care, otherwise performance will suffer. Originality/value This paper shows relations between empirically extracted clusters and organizational performance. The results show that clusters of PMS are systematically associated with the level of performance. Firms with different aspects of PMS do not achieve the equal level of performance. Firms with higher performance inside different PMS types have more desirable characteristics and aspects of PMS.

Risks and subgroups of cognitive impairment under different marital status among older adults: a latent profile analysis

Background and objective: With aging, cognitive impairment is severe in the aging society. This paper aimed to investigate the association between cognitive impairment and marital status and the empirical typology of cognitive impairment in Chinese aging population. Methods: Descriptive statistics were performed by retrieving data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to test the relation between cognitive impairment and marital status with univariate linear regression and multivariate linear regression. The subgroups of cognitive impairment for included older subjects were identified with latent profile analysis (LPA). Results: The sample included 13,149 participants aged 40 years or older. Both unmarried males and females suffer lower cognitive function than married males and females (P < 0.001). The declining trend remained consistent (P < 0.05) after adjustment for covariates. The participants who were illiterate or older or agricultural hukou had lower cognitive functions than their counterparts. LPA results showed that the cognitive function of participants could be divided into three subgroups. Conclusions: Unmarried males and females had lower cognitive function than that of married counterparts due to the declined percentage of class two, who have high mental intactness and episodic memory.

2. Politics and the State

This chapter explains why the state and sovereignty are relevant to the study of politics. It first provides an empirical typology of the state, ranging from the minimalist night-watchman state, approximated to by nineteenth-century capitalist regimes at one end of the spectrum, to the totalitarian state of the twentieth century at the other. It then examines the distribution of power in the state by focusing on three major theories of the state: pluralism, elitism, Marxism, as well as New Right theory. The chapter seeks to demonstrate that the theories of the state identified can also be critiqued normatively, so that pluralism, for instance, can be challenged for its divisive character, as exemplified by identity politics. It then goes on to review different views about what the role of the state ought to be, from the minimalist state recommended by adherents of classical liberalism, to the pursuit of distinctive social objectives as recommended, in particular, by proponents of communitarianism. Finally, it discusses empirical and normative challenges to the state and asks whether the state’s days are numbered.

An Empirical Typology of Nursing Home Culture Change Implementation

Culture change in nursing homes (NHs) is a broad-based effort to transform NHs from impersonal institutions to genuine person-centered homes. Culture change practices have been implemented increasingly with varying levels of success. This study (a) generated an empirical typology of culture change implementation across Minnesota NHs using latent profile analysis based on the survey data from administrators in 102 NHs and (b) examined variations in NH characteristics and quality outcomes associated with the typology. Three types of culture change implementation were identified: high performers, average performers, and low performers. The distributions of culture change scores were distinct across the three types, with low performers lagging far behind others in family and community engagement, and end-of-life care. High performers were distinguished through demonstrating better resident quality of life and higher family satisfaction. The findings provide empirical support for policymakers, providers, and advocates to direct culture change expansion and resource allocation.