This article reports a study which compared current donors, lapsed donors, and nondonors to the American Cancer Society in terms of their demographic characteristics, donation motives, likelihood with which these motives would be satisfied as a result of donating to a charitable organization, and the level of concern expressed regarding a variety of health issues. Results and implications of the study are discussed.

Purpose - There has been a considerable effort over the last decade to increase awareness of the tsunami risk in coastal Washington, USA. However, contemporary research on warning systems spawned by the recent Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy highlights the need for development of an effective tsunami warning system for both residents and transient populations, including visitors and tourists. This study sets out evaluate staff training for emergencies, emergency management exercises (including drills and evacuation), and hazard signage within motels and hotels in Ocean Shores, Washington, USA. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from interviews with reception staff and managers at 18 hotels, motels, and other accommodation establishments. Findings - Levels of staff training and preparedness for tsunami and other hazards were found to be generally very low, although examples of "best practice" were found at a select few establishments. Larger hotels already had orientation or general training programmes set up which had the potential to incorporate future tsunami and hazard training, while smaller "owner-operator" businesses did not. Research limitations/implications - Suggestions on how to improve preparedness are discussed, including undertaking training needs analyses and conducting workshops, simulations and employee training to empower both businesses and employees. Originality/value - This case study provides an insight into the challenges faced by emergency managers and the tourism sector in improving the effectiveness of warning systems in areas with high transient populations.

Purpose - This paper aims to introduces a measure to assess the perceived effectiveness of multi-hospital organizations (MOs). Design/methodology/approach - A sample of top managers of non-profit hospitals serves as the study setting. Data were collected via mail surveys. Usable responses were obtained from 189 hospitals. The measure was developed by considering the instrumentality and effect components of a set of relevant motives for joining an MO. During the course of the study, three alternative formulations were examined. Findings - Results show that the measures based on effect alone and a multiplicative combination of effect and instrumentality demonstrate sound psychometric properties. The recommendation here is to adopt the latter measure. Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to a particular sample. Replications among other samples are needed to validate the current findings. Also, because the exact content of the objective function of a hospital for joining an MO is not necessarily constant over time, there is a need to conduct similar studies on a periodic basis. Practical implications - The measure recommended here uses multiplicative/weighted instrumentality and effect scores as opposed to only the instrumentality or effect scores. This makes it possible to go beyond the mere "why" or "how" questions. Simultaneous consideration of instrumentality and effect dimensions affords a richer and more relevant understanding. Originality/value - Valid and reliable measures of performance are critical for both managerial and research purposes. The measure proposed in the current study could be used in structural equation models to investigate the effect of individual actions on performance and the impact of performance on other outcome measures (e.g. intentions to stay in an MO).

The study proposes and tests a model of consumer bank choice behavior in a south eastern city in the USA, based on the economics of information theory. The model expands the domain of inquiry beyond the initial level attributes to the first-order latent construct and the second-order (composite) levels. Results suggest that consumer bank choice behavior can be represented as a global construct with three viable components (search, credence and experience) and provide implications for bank managers.

No / Concepts of residential and logistic mobility are applied to survey assemblages from multiple decades of research along the interior drainages of central lower Michigan. Drawing on the ethnographic record of boreal hunter-gatherers and archaeological interpretations of long-distance logistic mobility from the Mesolithic of northern England and continental Europe, it is argued that the importance of logistic mobility is underrepresented in summaries of northern hemisphere hunter-gatherers. Reconstruction of Middle Holocene environments suggests that the resource structure of the central Michigan uplands was one that fostered use of logistic mobility, and that interior Middle Archaic assemblages and site structures reveal special function activities systemically tied to residential and other special function sites at lower coastal elevations, as well as currently submerged under Lake Huron. We conclude that rising levels of Lake Huron ca. 4500 B.P. resulted in decreased land area, population packing, and a consequent shift to residential mobility by the Late Archaic. Further, the results of this analysis can serve as a comparative framework for recognizing the role of logistic mobility in the evolution of hunter-gatherer adaptive strategies in other regions.

In cases concerning a hostile takeover occurring in the United States, the board of directors must fulfill the duties set forward by the Unocal test. If the board of directors succeed, it implies that the decision, regardless if it is a bad decision, is protected by the Business Judgment Rule. The Business Judgment Rule presumes that the board of directors in good faith made an informed decision in the line of the corporations’ interests. The Business Judgment Rule is inherently unique for American companies. In Sweden liability for directors is based on a culpa evaluation which in turn is based on principles deriving from tort law. This is the result from the corporate law only providing for a very limited part concerning liability. In this thesis, the different judicial systems are explained with focus on differences and similarities based on duties of the board. Moreover, the different liabilities from a Swedish and an American perspective will be discussed. Concluding, it is hard to distinguish a Swedish version of the Business Judgment Rule, however, the creation of one would most likely be beneficial since it, to a large extent, provides for a better business world. / Vid ett fientligt företagsförvärv i USA måste styrelseledamöterna visa att de uppfyller de krav som framställts genom Unocal-testet. Lyckas styreledamöterna uppfylla kraven så blir de skyddade från skadeståndsrättsligt ansvar i enlighet med the Business Judgment Rule, oavsett om beslutet ledde till en dålig affär. The Business Judgment Rule presumerar att styrelseledamöterna i god tro fattat ett välgrundat affärsbeslut som ligger i bolagets intresse. The Business Judgment Rule är unikt för amerikanska bolag. I Sverige utgår skadeståndsansvar för styrelseledamöter från en culpabedömning, vilket baseras på allmänna skadeståndsrättsliga principer då den aktiebolagsrättsliga skadeståndsdelen är begränsad. I denna uppsats redogörs de olika rättssystemen med fokus på likheter och skillnader i styrelseuppdraget. Vidare diskuteras styrelseledamöternas skadeståndsansvar utifrån ett amerikanskt och ett svenskt perspektiv. Slutligen visas det att det är svårt att se en svensk version till the Business Judgment Rule, men att en sådan troligen skulle vara att föredra då regeln ger effekter som bidrar till en bättre affärsvärld.

Cette analyse dresse le portrait des différentes représentations de la télévision à travers le cinéma américain de 1970 à 1999. Ce travail porte sur un corpus de quatorze films et s’intéresse à quatre dimensions de la télévision : l’appareil électrique, le téléspectateur, le contenu et l’univers professionnel. Les hypothèses soulevées sont que la télévision est majoritairement présentée de façon négative, que les représentations s’inscrivent dans un contexte culturel précis et qu’il y a un consensus entre les écrits universitaires et les cinéastes au sujet de l’écran cathodique. Bien que certaines critiques soient récurrentes d’une décennie à l’autre, il y a une évolution des représentations. Dans les années 1970, la télévision est un objet de risée. Son contenu est caricaturé et les professionnels qui travaillent pour la télévision sont personnifiés comme des êtres incompétents. Dans les années 1980, le petit écran est montré comme un objet dangereux. Sa très grande popularité en ferait un puissant diffuseur idéologique qui transforme tout en spectacle même la mort. Cette même popularité servira de prétexte aux cinéastes des années 1990 pour utiliser la télévision comme symbole de l’Amérique. Le portrait est peu flatteur : une Amérique corrompue, violente et en manque d’idéaux. Cette analyse montre également qu’au fil des décennies, les mêmes idées circulent entre cinéastes et penseurs américains. Enfin, cette attitude par rapport à la télévision est d’ailleurs symptomatique d’un mépris de l’élite intellectuel envers l’art populaire. / This analysis examines the multiple representations of the television in the American movie from 1970 to 1999. Four angles have been studied: the television set, the TV viewer, his content and the work environment. The hypothesis are theses: all the representations are negative, these representations are placed in a particular social context and there is a consensus between intellectuals and cineastes about the cathodic screen. Even if there are similarities between each decade, there is an evolution of the television representation. In the seventies, the cineastes laugh about the television. They show that the content is ridiculous and the TV workers are incompetent. In the eighties, the television is show like a dangerous object. His great popularity allows the owners to use the television as an ideological device. This popularity is used in the nineties like a pretext for the cineaste to talk about the United States over the television. The America’s portrait is negative: a violent and corrupted country. This analysis also shows that during these years, the same conclusions go through literature and cinema. Finally, this attitude toward television is symptomatic of an intellectual elite forward the popular art.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe and analyze legal regulation of individual income tax in the Czech Republic and in the United States, to compare the legal regulation in both countries and to assess the possibility of implementation of certain institutes of American federal tax law in the Czech Republic. The first chapter of this thesis deals with tax issues in general and with basic tax law terminology. The second chapter briefly describes elementary organization of the tax system and the structure of taxes in the Czech Republic and in the United States. The third chapter of this thesis discusses in more detail legal regulation of individual income tax in the Czech Republic according to individual elements of the tax construction. This chapter is divided into five subchapters, which deal with individual elements of the tax construction. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the Czech legal regulation of individual income tax and to underline problematic parts of this legal regulation. The fourth chapter, which is similarly structured as the third chapter, deals with legal regulation of individual income tax in the United States. This chapter is divided into two subchapters, the first of which discusses individual income tax on the federal level and the second one on the level of...

Diploma thesis "Czechoslovak-US Relations, 1977-1981" examines the nature and development of bilateral relations between these two states primarily during Carter's period. The thesis describes foreign policy of the United States towards communist countries of Eastern Europe in the late 70's and early 80's of the 20th century and compares this policy with foreign policy of Nixon's and Ford's administrations. The paper briefly describes prevailing situation in the USA in the late 70's, impact of Carter's administration activities on global development of USA-SSSR relations and influence of changes on international field on Czechoslovak-American relations. The main attention is drawn to the nature of Czechoslovak-U.S. relations, matters of mutual interest and to the friction areas among the states. Political and diplomatic relations as well as economic and cultural relations are observed. The thesis also analyzes Carter's initiative to enhance human rights throughout the world and to fulfil the Helsinki commitments, which had essential importance for further developement of U.S. relations with the Soviet bloc states. Key words: Czechoslovak-American relations, The United States, Czechoslovakia, The Soviet Union, Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, human rights, détente, differentiation policy

L’ouverture de l’économie colombienne, décidée en 1990, fut présentée comme un promoteur de croissance et développement sur la base des exportations (et des Investissements Directs Etrangers). Cette thèse soutient que l’ouverture n’a pas été décidée afin de favoriser la croissance et le développement et que ces deux phénomènes n’ont pas été à la hauteur de ce qui était anticipé. Ce résultat est fondé sur une analyse en termes d’Economie Politique Internationale : les relations de pouvoir peuvent être utiles pour répondre à des questions d’ordre économique. Le premier chapitre montre que les caractéristiques structurelles de l’économie colombienne rendaient son ouverture impropre à générer croissance et développement sur la base des exportations. Cette proposition s’appuie sur l’analyse de la compétitivité sectorielle et des carences institutionnelles de l’économie colombienne, ainsi que sur l’accroissement potentiel des inégalités spatiales de développement suite à l’ouverture. Le deuxième chapitre s’attache alors à mettre en évidence que l’ouverture répond à des objectifs propres aux Etats-Unis. Ces objectifs sont à dominante économique (typiquement la création des débouchés extérieurs et l’accès à des matières premières) ou politique (lutte contre les guérillas d’inspiration communiste dans le cadre de la politique étrangère américaine). Le deuxième chapitre expose une série des moyens à la disposition des Etats-Unis afin d’obtenir l’ouverture du gouvernement colombien de l’époque. Ces moyens vont de la coercition (par exemple la menace de sanction) à la légitimation (favoriser l’élection d’un gouvernement pro-ouverture). Le troisième chapitre montre que l’ouverture n’a pas instauré un régime de croissance fondé sur les exportations. Au contraire, elle a instauré un régime instable fondé sur une dynamique spéculative sur les actifs immobiliers à partir des flux de capitaux étrangers venant nourrir l’achat de ces actifs à crédit. Lorsque ces capitaux finissent tôt ou tard par manquer, de tels achats sont pénalisés et viennent interrompre la dynamique. Celle-ci ne peut plus tirer la croissance via des effets d’entrainement du secteur de la construction sur le reste de l’économie. Mais pris au piège de la relation de pouvoir exercée par les Etats-Unis, le gouvernement colombien n’a pas cherché à stabiliser la conjoncture. Il a dû privilégier les dépenses en équipement militaire américain pour lutter contre les guérillas colombiennes. L’intensification subséquente du conflit armé a accentué la violence au sein du territoire. Il en résulta la destruction d’infrastructures, ainsi qu’une migration de travailleurs qualifiés. La récession en a été d’autant plus accentuée. Ainsi l’ouverture débouche-t-elle sur la pire crise économique du XXème siècle en Colombie, avec une récession de -5% en 1999. Le quatrième chapitre enquête sur les changements des structures de production et d’échange suite à l’ouverture, pour ainsi montrer que ces changements n’ont que peu favorisé le développement. La Colombie tend à négliger sa spécialisation internationale historique dans le café et la plupart des cultures transitoires (blé, riz, orge, sorgo, coton, etc.) pour privilégier d’autres cultures dont les effets positifs sur le développement sont moindres. Bien que les hydrocarbures et d’autres matières brutes bénéficient d’un certain potentiel d’exportation, le développement des territoires où l’extraction a lieu reste faible. Se pose en outre un problème de soutenabilité de l’extraction. Enfin, si l’industrie manufacturière a pu croitre au rythme du régime de croissance, elle le doit à la protection dont elle bénéficie encore dans le cadre du traitement différentiel des pays en développement à l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce et moins aux opportunités d’exportation données par l’ouverture. Le jour où ce traitement sera diminué voire supprimé, toute une partie de l’économie colombienne est menacée. / The opening of the Colombian economy, decided in 1990, was supposed to promote a new model of growth and development based on exports (and Foreign Direct Investment). This dissertation argues that the opening was not made in order to promote growth and development, and that these two phenomena did not live up to what was expected. This result is based on an International Political Economy approach: taking into account power relationships may give a better explanation of economic phenomena. The first chapter shows that the structural characteristics of the Colombian economy made its opening unable to generate growth and development. This assertion is based on the analysis of the lack of competitiveness and of the institutional flaws of the Colombian economy, as well as on the potential increase in the spatial inequalities of development resulting from the opening. The second chapter thus highlights that the opening aimed at achieving some objectives peculiar to the United States. These objectives are made of economic considerations (typically the access to foreign markets and to raw materials) as well as political ones (dealing with the threats caused by Marxist guerrilla groups within the framework of the American foreign policy). This second chapter explains a series of means at the disposal of the United States to obtain the opening. These means go from coercion (such as sanction threats) to legitimation (to give rise to a Colombian pro-opening government). The third chapter shows that the opening did not lead to an export-led growth. On the contrary, it led to an unstable growth regime. The latter is based on the foreign capital flows. The latter feed the purchase of real estate assets by credit. The housing sector is thus stimulated, which in turn stimulates other economic activities, within the framework of spill-over effects. However, when foreign capital flows lack, real-estate asset purchases are penalized, thus preventing the expansion of the housing sector and eventually of aggregate production itself (spill-over effects no longer work). However, given the power relationship exercised by the United States, the Colombian government had to purchase American military equipment massively, in order to fight against the Colombian guerrillas. By doing so, the economic policy could not stabilize the economy at that time. Besides, the subsequent intensification of the conflict increased the violence within the Colombian territory, thus leading to the migration of skilled workers and to the destruction of infrastructures. The recession had thus been exacerbated. This scenario occurred a few years after 1990, resulting in the worst economic crisis of the 20th century in Colombia with a -5 % recession in 1999. The fourth chapter questions the changes followed by the production and exchange structures because of the opening, to show that these changes did not really contribute to development. Colombia tends to neglect its historic international specialization in coffee and other cultures like wheat, rice, barley, sorghum or cotton, to privilege other cultures whose positive effects on development are lower. As regards the industries of extraction of raw materials (in particular hydrocarbons), they are oriented toward exportation but they promote few development. In addition, the Colombian productive system may lack of this type of input in the future. Finally, if the manufacturing industry was able to increase at the rate of the growth regime, it owes it to the protection still remaining with the differential treatment for developing countries in the World Trade Organization, and less to the export opportunities given by the opening. When this treatment will be eliminated or at least decreased, a whole part of the Colombian economy will be threatened.