Convergence (relationship)

Abstract: Convergence of Probability Measures. By P. Billingsley. Chichester, Sussex, Wiley, 1968. xii, 253 p. 9 1/4“. 117s.

Abstract: This paper summarizes the author's recently published findings about differences in people's work-related values among 50 countries. In view of these differences, ethnocen- tric management theories (those based on the value system of one particular country) have become untenable. This concept is illustrated for the fields of leadership, organization, and motivation. * A key issue for organization science is the influence of national cultures on INTRODUCTION management. Twenty or even 10 years ago, the existence of a relationship be- Management and tween management and national cultures was far from obvious to many, and it National Cultures may not be obvious to everyone even now. In the 1950s and 60s, the dominant be- lief, at least in Europe and the U.S., was that management was something univer- sal. There were principles of sound management, which existed regardless of na- tional environments. If national or local practice deviated from these principles, it was time to change local practice. In the future, the universality of sound manage- ment practices would lead to societies becoming more and more alike. This ap- plied even to the poor countries of the Third World, which would become rich as well and would be managed just like the rich countries. Also, the differences be- tween management in the First and Second World (capitalist and socialist) would disappear; in fact, under the surface they were thought to be a lot smaller than was officially recognized. This way of thinking, which dominated the 1950s and 60s, is known as the "convergence hypothesis." During the 1970s, the belief in the unavoidable convergence of management prac- tices waned. It was too obviously in conflict with the reality we saw around us. At the same time supranational organizations like the European Common Market, which were founded very much on the convergence belief, had to recognize the stubbornness of national differences. Even within existing nations, regional dif- ferences became more rather than less accentuated. The Welsh, the Flemish, the Basques, the Bangladeshi, the Quebecois defended their own identity, and this was difficult to reconcile with a management philosophy of convergence. It slowly became clear that national and even regional cultures do matter for management. The national and regional differences are not disappearing; they are here to stay. In fact, these differences may become one of the most crucial problems for man- agement-in particular for the management of multinational, multicultural orga- nizations, whether public or private.

Abstract: The convergence hypothesis has generated a huge empirical literature: this paper critically reviews some of the earlier key findings, clarifies their implications, and relates them to more recent results. Particular attention is devoted to interpreting convergence empirics. The main findings are: (1) The much-heralded uniform 2% rate of convergence could arise for reasons unrelated to the dynamics of economic growth. (2) Usual empirical analyses — cross-section (conditional) convergence regressions, time-series modelling, panel data analysis — can be misleading for understanding convergence; a model of polarization in economic growth clarifies those difficulties. (3) The data, more revealingly modelled, show persistence and immobility across countries: some evidence supports Baumol's idea of ‘convergence clubs’: some evidence shows the poor getting poorer, and the rich richer, with the middle class vanishing. (4) Convergence, unambiguous up to sampling error, is observed across US states.

Abstract: After Brown v. Board of Education was decided, Professor Herbert Wechsler questioned whether the Supreme Court’s decision could be justified on the basis of “neutral” principles. To him Brown arbitrarily traded the rights of whites not to associate with blacks in favor of the rights of blacks to associate with whites. In this Comment, Prof. Derrick Bell suggests that no conflict of interest actually existed; for a brief period, the interests of the races converged to make the Brown decision inevitable. More recent Supreme Court decisions, however, suggest to Professor Bell a growing divergence of interests that makes integration less feasible. He suggests the interest of blacks in quality education might now be better served by concentration on improving the quality of existing schools, whether desegregated or all-black.