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Pressures to improve environmental management in the U.S. and Germany are among the strongest in the world, demanding quick responsiveness from managers of manufacturing firms. However, even in these countries, the managerial implications of environmental regulation can vary dramatically. Our synthesis of related literatures indicates that manufacturing flexibility, by enabling efficient adaptation to change and uncertainty, can support environmental management. This paper empirically explores the linkage between flexibility and environmental management in the U.S. and Germany. Environmental management was operationalized along two dimensions: level of environmental ambition, defined as scope of environmental efforts; and level of regulatory-driven motivation. Survey data were collected from a sample of 218 U.S. and German manufacturing sites. Neither the probability of having a dedicated environmental department nor of having an environmental policy statement differed between countries; however, the impact of flexibility on the level of ambition was found to vary significantly between countries. One potential explanation is that command-and-control regulation of the manufacturing process is heavily emphasized in the U.S., while closed loop (recycling) regulation of final product disposition is predominant in Germany. Thus, manufacturing firms need to evaluate general regulatory differences between countries before using manufacturing flexibility to support environmental management. Future research needs to explore whether other operational capabilities, such as quality, also support environmental management across international contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To develop a support and service system in form of counseling centers or mobile units to address the needs of the increasing number of partially sighted people, especially those who experience sight loss at a later stage in life, as well as their relatives and formal carers. Methods The situation of support systems in Germany was analyzed. Predominantly partially sighted people were trained and instructed to create a network to other partners, like ophthalmologists, optometrists and rehabilitation specialists. With the support of the organization "Aktion Mensch!" and the "Bernd Mettmann Foundation" pilot projects were created. These new regional centers have been working since the beginning of 2012. Results Meanwhile consultation centers, mobile units or working groups are running in five regions in Germany. The number of consultations is increasing. The centers are establishing a network of different experts, their organizations and other self‐help groups and patient organizations. Project workers assist the regional groups of the German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (DBSV) in creating an area‐wide structure to support partially sighted people and their relatives. They have published various information material and papers to raise awareness of the issue of visual impairment. Conclusion Patients as experts to support partially sighted people, relatives and formal carers in a network of support centers is a successful way to respond efficiently to the increasing number of partially sighted people. Starting in 2013, therefore the regional projects will be extended nationwide. Our positive experiences suggest that the concept of support centers where patients support patients could be transferred to other countries too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many European countries, institutional childcare has developed as a field shaped by both statutory and associative agency, the German system being emblematic for this. In Germany, a considerable proportion of childcare services are provided by nonprofit organizations under public regulation. Departing from a historical overview, the article elaborates on the mixed economy of welfare in that system and sheds light on recent transformations of the existing public-private partnership. It is argued that with a range of cultural and civil-society-related evolutions, the system is going to adopt elements of a market regulation that are prone to change the rules of games within the partnership as such. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the research paper "Documentation in Germany: 1954," by Hans Karl Soeken. The author here describes the past, present and future activities of the German Society for Documentation after its first five years. Whereas early activities were concentrated on more technical matters such as document reproduction, more attention in the future is expected to be directed toward problems of classification. The activities and organization plans of a number of existing and proposed committees of the society are discussed.