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When it comes to workplace preferences, Generation Y workers closely resemble Baby Boomers. Because these two huge cohorts now coexist in the workforce, their shared values will hold sway in the companies that hire them. The authors, from the Center for Work-Life Policy, conducted two large-scale surveys that reveal those values. Gen Ys and Boomers are eager to contribute to positive social change, and they seek out workplaces where they can do that. They expect flexibility and the option to work remotely, but they also want to connect deeply with colleagues. They believe in employer loyalty but desire to embark on learning odysseys. Innovative firms are responding by crafting reward packages that benefit both generations of workers - and their employers.

An employee union is threatening Detonation Media with a strike. What should the company do? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0907B and R0907Z: Richard L. Trumka, Richard B. Freeman, and Jeffrey Anderson.

An employee union is threatening Detonation Media with a strike. What should the company do? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0907B and R0907Z: Richard L. Trumka, Richard B. Freeman, and Jeffrey Anderson.

This case describes the efforts of the management team at Tomasso Corporation, located in Montreal, Quebec, to manage various economic and personnel issues during the economic downturn of 2001. As the situation at Tomasso worsened, the president wondered how to turn the company around. The management team wondered if there was a way to balance the human and economic issues by adhering to a theory that the chief executive officer had developed over 10 years.

NFC was a state-owned company listed on the China stock exchange. It had operations in Zambia, Iran and Kazakhstan before entering into Mongolia. Most of the prior projects were turn-key operations. Mongolia was the first country in which it had an international joint venture (IJV). The joint venture (JV) agreement was signed in 1998. Due to many delays, it was not until 2005 that it finally started operating. In mid-2007, the Mongolian parliament notified the JV that its 5-year 0 per cent and 5-year 50 per cent of income tax term (starting from 2005) had been cancelled. Not only would it need to pay full tax starting from 2007, it had to pay the exempted tax amount from 2005 and 2006. Inside the JV, the union desired another pay raise despite the fact that salaries had been increased 10 per cent just six months ago. Outside the JV, local shipping companies threatened to block the factory gate if the JV did not sign a shipping contract with them on their terms.

This case discusses the housing registration system that was implemented in China in the late 1950s and categorized individuals into two groups: urban and rural. This was a status that individuals were born with and passed from one generation to the next. It not only defined their place of residence and work, but also the social benefits, housing, healthcare and education they were entitled to. In the period after 1978, with reforms in rural areas and the development of urban coastal areas, cheap labor flocked to the cities. With over 200 million migrants to urban areas in 20 years, the housing registration system prevented many from finding proper jobs, housing, healthcare and education. The Chinese government embarked on a number of reforms with varying degrees of success. This case highlights rural-urban disparities and the resulting migration to urban areas.

The co-founder and chief investment officer (CIO) of Red River Asset Management is trying to improve the way he communicates his firm's key benefits to clients. The CIO's central challenge is that his firm's investment philosophy focuses on quantitative analysis while most clients are only familiar with - and trust - qualitative analysis. In addition, his presentation skills are not as polished as he would like. This case allows an instructor to discuss the importance of message development and delivery in the financial context. The supplement (B) case, product # 909C14, highlights the CIO's decision and outcome.

Supplement to case 909C13

If your firm has downsized recently, you're now managing a bunch of survivors - the lucky ones who didn't get laid off. But good fortune doesn't make for good performance, at least not in this situation. Chances are, you're presiding over a heightened level of employee dysfunction, even if you don't see it yet. Here's what you can do to limit the damage.

The Essilor Korea case series focuses on the efforts of Stephen Shawler as he attempts to build a world-class joint venture between French-based Essilor and its Korean partner, Samyung Trading. Facing huge cultural barriers and partner relationship issues, Shawler must determine the targets and tactics of several change initiatives. Each of the (A), (B) and (C) cases deals with a different set of decisions for Shawler; the (D) case provides a summary of final observations.

The Essilor Korea case series focuses on the efforts of Stephen Shawler as he attempts to build a world-class joint venture between French-based Essilor and its Korean partner, Samyung Trading. Facing huge cultural barriers and partner relationship issues, Shawler must determine the targets and tactics of several change initiatives. Each of the (A), (B) and (C) cases deals with a different set of decisions for Shawler; the (D) case provides a summary of final observations.

The Essilor Korea case series focuses on the efforts of Stephen Shawler as he attempts to build a world-class joint venture between French-based Essilor and its Korean partner, Samyung Trading. Facing huge cultural barriers and partner relationship issues, Shawler must determine the targets and tactics of several change initiatives. Each of the (A), (B) and (C) cases deals with a different set of decisions for Shawler; the (D) case provides a summary of final observations.

The Essilor Korea case series focuses on the efforts of Stephen Shawler as he attempts to build a world-class joint venture between French-based Essilor and its Korean partner, Samyung Trading. Facing huge cultural barriers and partner relationship issues, Shawler must determine the targets and tactics of several change initiatives. Each of the (A), (B) and (C) cases deals with a different set of decisions for Shawler; the (D) case provides a summary of final observations.

An intern has completed her summer internship as Brussels and Bradshaw (B&B), an investment bank in Toronto, Ontario. She now faces her final performance review where she will be told whether or not she has been offered full-time employment following her graduation. After a grueling summer during which she received little training, no formal mentorship and worked tireless 100 hour weeks with no praise, she was frustrated, hurt and bitter about the experience. Despite enjoying finance and the actual work, the intern is unsure whether taking B&B's offer is a good idea, should B&B extend her the opportunity. Despite it being one of the most prestigious banks in the world, she had seen little to no improvement in the abusive approach of her superiors. As she walks to the business department manager's office, she reviews whether or not she should bring up the unresolved issues that transpired during the summer, the mounting frustration of working in teams that gossiped and did not respect her work, and finally her inability to understand why she had been treated so poorly despite her diligent work ethic. On the one hand, the intern could bring up such issues and try to explain herself before the business department manager decides whether or not to extend her the offer. Or, she could listen to the review and continue to take full responsibility for the problems which were not her making in the hopes that it might make her look more mature and professional and potentially aid her in obtaining her full-time offer.

As more Reserve and National Guard troops are called to leave the civilian workforce and enter military service, employers must understand the legal rights those service members possess and the employers' legal obligations that are now required under The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Current data and litigation trends suggest many employers are not fully aware of their legal obligations under USERRA and the punishing legal liability they may face. USERRA applies to virtually all employers, and the law uniquely provides for both corporate and individual liability for discriminating against employees or applicants because of military service. This article provides an overview of USERRA from the perspective of employers, employees, and potential employees. Practical advice is rendered herein not only for those covered by the Act, but also for employers regarding adherence to this law while avoiding liability under USERRA.     

Service firms must remember that the way they treat their employees is exactly how those employees will, in turn, treat customers. As such, taking good care of frontline personnel should be a top management concern. One way that service employees can be shown they are valued members of the organization entails the implementation of thoughtful and organized career development programs, initiatives which help increase employees' job satisfaction and feelings of empowerment in their customer-facing roles. Before they can become enthusiastic about meeting the needs of their customers, employees have to feel that their own needs are being met within the organization. In this regard, firm investment in frontline employee career development programs will be money well spent: they are capable of reducing employee turnover and increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability. This article provides a conceptual model of career development which should prove useful to service managers in evaluating their own career development efforts. Also presented herein is a framework for tying together many disparate areas of career development that have heretofore been handled separately in the services literature.     

In the early 1970s, the Missouri Division of Youth Services (DYS) took its first steps toward radically changing the way it dealt with youthful offenders remanded to its custody. For years, like most states, it had incarcerated juveniles convicted of felony or misdemeanor offenses in large quasi-penal facilities called "training schools." Instead, DYS began establishing smaller "cottage-style" residential programs that emphasized rehabilitation over punishment and applied a therapeutic approach to its troubled young charges. Over the next three decades, DYS expanded this approach to encompass its entire juvenile offender population. By the mid-2000s, the "Missouri model," as it became known, was perhaps the most admired-and, many considered, most effective-juvenile corrections system in the US. This case describes the Missouri model-including the population it serves, the educational and therapeutic programs it offers, and the frontline staff of "youth specialists" it employs to work closely with young offenders. The case also provides an overview of Missouri's impressively low recidivism figures and a brief discussion of the complexities of comparing such figures among states. It concludes with a discussion of the challenges the Missouri DYS has faced in sustaining its highly regarded, but demanding, approach over many years. The case can be used in classes on child welfare policy and criminal justice. HKS Case Number 1904.0

After the successful Apollo series NASA formulated a new vision for the space program, incorporating a space station and guaranteeing routine access to space via a reusable space shuttle. In 1986, the space shuttle design included two solid-rocket launchers which required the use of O-rings to seal the joints. After each launch the launchers were retrieved, inspected and possibly reused is they did not display evidence of O-ring distress. The space shuttle Challenger had flown 9 successful missions into space and was gearing up for its tenth with great fanfare due to NASA's successful public relations program, "The Teacher in Space Program". The evening prior to the January 28, 1986 launch saw representatives from the Kennedy Space Centre, the Marshall Space Flight Centre and contractor Morton Thiokol participate in a 3-hour teleconference to discuss if the predicted low temperatures would have any effect on the expected performance of the O-rings. In addition to the statistical analysis of the historical O-ring failure, the stakeholders needed to communicate their results in the appropriate flow of information.