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In this paper we examine the role of disruptive or upsetting events in people's professional lives and explore how they influence individuals' investments in their careers. Based on previous research we have assumed that due to considerable societal and economic changes in Russia and the reported negative consequences felt by many individuals, the context of that country is a fruitful arena for an investigation of the role of upsetting events on individuals' careers. At the same time, despite the negative events and a disruption of many traditional career-supporting structures, a significant number of Russians managed to reinvent their careers and achieve tremendous objective and subjective success in their careers in a relatively short time period.

This paper examines stories about career investments of 140 successful entrepreneurs from Russia. A significant portion of these people explicitly reported influence of upsetting events on their own career investments. Based on the exploration of career stories, the paper introduced a typology of the upsetting events in the Russian context. The events were generally classified into those that represented "macro" and "micro" upsetting events. Macro events refer to changes in socio-economic, and political systems. Micro events refer to the events that only concern the individual him- or herself, or may include events at work or at home. Our analysis of the career investments of the Russian entrepreneurs using the intelligent career concept shows that when faced with the upsetting events individuals tend to (a) reconsider their existing events, (b) divest from their old ways of knowing, and (c) invest in relatively new ways of knowing.

Our study calls a particular attention to the role of career divestments, or discontinuing certain ways of investing in order free resources for a different investment expected to be more fruitful in terms or returns. Attention to divestment may be warranted due to the increased unpredictability of working lives of today's career actors.

This study contributes to responding to a call for a better understanding of the role of upsetting events on people's careers and the society at large. We also bring further our understanding of human adjustment to the sometimes upsetting changes in their surroundings through working life, thus enhancing our understanding of the role of careers in socio-economic systems. Last but not least, the study also contributes to a better understanding of careers in modern Russia. With the increasing role of Russia on the international political and economic arena, understanding people through looking at their working lives is a good start for multiple potential research endeavors in the fields of career research and beyond.

We consider a market with two suppliers and a set of buyers in search of procurement contracts with one of the suppliers. In particular, each buyer needs to process a certain volume of work, and each supplier's ability to process the customers' requests is constrained by a production capacity. The procurement contracts include guarantees that the products will be available when needed, and the buyers select a supplier based on their service delivery offers. The suppliers are modeled as make-to-stock queues and compete for the buyers' business. The main objective of this paper is to determine how the procurement contracts are established between buyers and suppliers. Because each buyer selects a single supplier to establish the sourcing relationship, the game fails to have a pure-strategy Nash equilibrium. Instead, an equilibrium is defined as the limit equilibrium of some discrete action games.

© 2008 INFORMS

The article focuses on the developments in several B2B companies which traditionally produce goods and based on this experience are trying to enter the business of management consulting. It is the aim of the paper to identify the specific challenges that these companies are facing regarding marketing and selling their management consulting services. Furthermore hypotheses are developed that should give direction how to overcome those challenges successfully. Due to the lack of current research results, an explorative case study approach is chosen referring to two companies from the IT industry having gained relevant experience in this business area. In addition, theoretical frameworks demonstrate the plausibility of the hypotheses developed. If further research supports these hypotheses, it will have significant impact on the market strategy, marketing communication and sales organization of companies going to increase their consulting services.

With permission of Elsevier

This case describes the events that led to the near-collapse of Bankgesellschaft Berlin and the subsequent restructuring that was completed in July 2007. The state-owned bank was saved from failure by a capital injection of 1.8 billion euros and a guarantee for the covering of losses of up to 21.7 billion euros provided by the state of Berlin. These measures almost bankrupted the state of Berlin and had wide-ranging political consequences. The case therefore highlights the current problems of the German banking system, which is dominated by publicly-owned savings banks. The case covers the events of Bankgesellschaft Berlin between 1996 and 2006. It opens with Thomas Kurze, a member of the management board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin, in November 2000. He has to decide on a proposal for raising cash to prevent the looming collapse of the bank. The dilemma of Thomas Kurze is told from two angles: (1) the managerial angle focuses on saving the bank through recapitalisation or restructuring, and on the limits set by the co-determination of the supervisory board; and (2) the personal angle focuses on his individual responsibility to the bank versus the pressure and demands of the politicians involved. This includes the discussion of his personal values being in conflict with the bank. The case has students analyse the impact of a public shareholder with multiple interests on a major German bank, and the flawed governance structure of which has led it to near-collapse. Students will furthermore discuss the choices a business leader has when faced with this dilemma. The case was written entirely using publicly available information - especially information from public hearings and a special report of the Berlin parliament published in 2006.

Existing evidence suggests that preferences are affected by whether a price is presented as one all-inclusive expense or partitioned into a set of mandatory charges. To explain this phenomenon, we introduce a new mechanism whereby price partitioning affects a consumer's perception of the secondary (i.e., nonfocal) benefits derived from a transaction. Four experiments support the hypothesis that a partitioned price increases the amount of attention paid to secondary attributes tagged with distinct price components. Characteristics of the offered secondary attributes such as their perceived value, relative importance, and evaluability can therefore determine whether price partitioning stimulates or hinders demand. Beyond its descriptive and prescriptive implications, this theory contributes to the emerging notion that pricing can transform, as well as capture, the utility of an offer.

© 2008 INFORMS

Peer coaching in executive education programs is a developmental approach that uses a number of principles developed in executive coaching practice and research, and the power of work and life experience of fellow participants in helping other members of the class clarify their goals, assess the current reality of their situation and understand the forces that help or hinder goal achievement, elaborate available options or alternatives, identify necessary resources and support mechanisms, and, last but not least, commit to action through development and peer approval of an action plan and agreeing on a follow-up with the peer coach throughout the process of implementation of the action plan. This technical note serves as a resource for participants of leadership development programs involving elements of peer coaching.

With permission of Emerald