Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Empowerment as a strategy to achieve the competitive advantage of organizations: A mediating role of organizational learning

Article history: Received: March 23, 2018 Received in revised format: June 21, 2018 Accepted: June 21, 2018 Available online: June 22, 2018 In this era of industrialization, it is very difficult for firms to develop and sustain the competitive advantage. Industrial competition spread so rapidly worldwide, which neglect the differentiation of products and it is very difficult to sustain the competitive advantage in the market. Large economies capture the maximum world market and give tough time to small economies such as Iraq. Thus, the primary aim of the current study is to present a comprehensive theoretical framework for competitive advantage, which leads to better firm performance. Many studies have highlighted the area of competitive advantage of the firms, however, in a rare instance, literature has reported limited discussion on sustainable competitive advantage, especially in the context of Iraq. This research gap formulated four hypotheses, which are proposed the relationship between empowerment strategy, organizational learning and competitive advantage. The pick and drop method was adopted to distribute the questionnaires among four hundred manufacturing firms of Iraq. The results of the current study found a positive and significant relationship between empowerment, organizational learning and competitive advantage. Furthermore, the current study found a significant relationship between empowerment strategy and organizational learning. Moreover, organizational learning was found the main contributory factor between empowerment strategy and competitive advantage in Iraq industrial context. This work contributes to the consistency of knowledge by developing a comprehensive theoretical account to build and sustain the competitive advantage of Iraq industry. Hence, the current work is helpful for sustainable competitive advantage of companies to achieve the highest firm performance. © 2018 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada
Economic Crisis, Innovation Strategies and Firm Performance. Evidence from Italian Firm-level Data

Several empirical works have shown the robust and positive relation between growth and innovation at macroeconomic level and between firm economic performance and innovation at microeconomic level. However, the economists have had less opportunities to study such linkages during severe global downturns of the economic cycle. Moreover, the present disruptive economic downturn has forced the firms to implement survival strategies. One of such strategic behaviour regards the way of intervention on product and process areas through innovative actions. Focusing the attention on the micro level, the present work provides an empirical analysis on the basis of more than 500 Italian manufacturing firms located in Emilia-Romagna region, with the aim of disentangling the relations between pre-crisis innovation strategies and firm economic performance during the crisis as well as the linkages between the innovative actions taken to react to the recession's challenges and the economic performance in the recession. The results suggest the existence of strong relationships between past innovative activities and the capacity to react to the challenges brought by the crisis through innovative actions along product, process and organization/HRM dimensions, although the role of complementarities among past innovative activities does not emerge robustly. When the dependent variables are performance indicators the impact of pre-crisis innovation strategies emerges as robust for technological and organizational spheres, while intense innovative activities before the crisis on spheres like ICT, training and environment are detrimental for performances in the crisis. It seems that when the crisis hits those firms in a process of quite radical transformation and change, then the negative economic consequences of the recession are worse than in the case of firms on a more stable, less dynamic path.
Mathematical Analysis of Information Integration with Paragraph-Type Verbal Stimuli. Final Report.

A linear integration model for attitude change waL tested in an experiment on Judgments of U. S. Presidents. Ss received paragraphs describing the actions and achievements of various U. S. Presidents and rated them on statesmanship. The data generally supported the parallelism prediction of the model though one significant discrepancy was found. Order of presentation yielded a small nonsignificant primacy effect. The purpose of this experiment was to apply a theory of information integration to attitude change. This theory has received substantiesupport in personality impression formation, as well as in other judgmental tasks (Anderson, 1968, 1970). The present experiment tests the theory with more complex semantic stimuli, factually based paragraphs about the actions and accomplishments of U. S. Presidents. Within the theory, each communication is considered to have a scale value, s, and a weight, If. The scale value denotes its position on the dimension of judgment, general statesmanship in the present case. The weight, which reflects its importance, can depend on a variety of factors such as amount and reliability of the information, as well as serial position when, as here, sequential presentation is used. The theoretical response is just the weighted sum of the scale values: ws. If the weights sum to one, this is an averaging model. Adding and averaging models make essentially the same prediction in the present experiment, so this distinction will be ignored. Similar models have been considered by a number of investigators (see Rosenberg, 1968). As yet, however, satisfactory quantitative tests have not been made in the area of attitude change. Such tests ordinarily require assessment of the discrepancies from prediction; high correlations between data and model are typically built into the stimulus design (Anderson, 1962) and in that case have little value as evidence. As one example, Sidowski and Anderson (1967) obtained correlations of . 986 and . 987 in two experiments on an adding model. However, both experiments showed a highly significant and psychologically important discrepancy from the model.
Extended exchange interactions stabilize long-period magnetic structures in Cr1∕3NbS2

The topologically-protected, chiral soliton lattice is a unique state of matter offering intriguing functionality and it may serve as a robust platform for storing and transporting information in future spintronics devices. While the monoaxial chiral magnet Cr$_{1/3}$NbS$_2$ is known to host this exotic state in an applied magnetic field, its detailed microscopic origin has remained a matter of debate. Here we work towards addressing this open question by measuring the spin wave spectrum of Cr$_{1/3}$NbS$_2$ over the entire Brillouin zone with inelastic neutron scattering. The well-defined spin wave modes allow us to determine the values of several microscopic interactions for this system. The experimental data is well-explained by a Heisenberg Hamiltonian with exchange constants up to third nearest neighbor and an easy plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy term. Our work shows that both the second and third nearest neighbor exchange interactions contribute to the formation of the helimagnetic and chiral soliton lattice states in this robust three-dimensional magnet.
The Triangular Relationship between Audit Committee Characteristics, Audit Inputs, and Financial Reporting Quality

Using the exogenous reforms to audit committees mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and a difference-in-difference approach, we examine the impact of changes in audit committee attributes (financial expertise, size, and independence) on firms’ audit inputs and financial reporting quality. Firms directly affected by the reforms experienced a larger improvement in audit inputs (measured by audit fees and the appointment of an industry specialist auditor) and a larger increase in financial reporting quality (measured by restatements of financial reports) relative to firms that were already compliant. Importantly, we find that the decline in restatements is not related to the improvement in audit inputs. This suggests that larger, more independent, and more competent audit committees are better able to detect misstatements or deter opportunistic reporting by management, independent of the level of audit input quality. The results therefore provide justification for the audit committee reforms.
COMPETITIVE ANXIETY, SELF-CONFIDENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS IN TOP ATHLETES WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES: PILOT STUDY

Abstract. To test our premise of positive impact of sport activities on psychological health of persons with disability, which implies the ability of their thoughts and feelings control, we compared profile of their specific psychological characteristics profile of athletes of persons with disability (N=12) and without disabilities (N=12). Results this pilot study indicate that there is only one significant difference between top athletes with and without disability, only in achievement under pressure (F=4.655, p=.043). Psychological profile of athletes with disability is very similar to the profile of athletes without it, which proves that sport positively contribute their psychical strength making them equally ready for top results in sport as athletes without disabilities. Practicing sport has positive impact not only on sport Self-confidence (SCI) but on Global Self-Esteem (GSE) of athletes with disabilities. Their competitive anxiety is optimized (SCATr) and their psychological skills for overcoming stress are improved (ACSI28), so they are not different from their peers without disabilities. The age in athletes with disabilities is significantly in positive correlation with strength of their global self-esteem (r= .88, p= .001), with self-confidence and motivation for achievement in sport ACSI-coam (r= .67, p= .023) and negatively with their competition anxiety (r= -.65, p= .022). We can conclude that with growth of their competitive experience grows their sport confidence, especially psychological resilience (r=.64, p=.45). Key words. sport, disability, psychological characteristics specific for sport
Cutting and breaking in Äiwoo: Event integration and the complexity of lexical expressions

This paper examines the lexical encoding of events of “cutting and breaking” in the Oceanic language Äiwoo. It shows that this language differs from previously described languages in this domain in several ways: in having complex “cut and break” forms consisting of two bound elements referring to distinct aspects of the cut and break event; in integrating these forms into a cline of lexicalisation vs. serialisation, arguably reflecting a conceptual-semantic continuum of event integration; and in violating previously suggested generalisations concerning the behaviour of verbs of cutting and breaking in inchoative alternations. It shows that lexicalisation may clearly be a matter of degree, and that the degree to which an event is construed as being constituted by independent subevents vs. subevents which cannot occur independently may be d irectly reflected in the type of formal expression a language provides to describe it. Furthermore, it suggests that the distinction between “cut” and “break” e xpressions, assumed in some of the literature to be a fairly straightforward bipartition, may in fact be more of a cline. The paper thus demonstrates the complexity of the cognitive domain of cutting and breaking events and the range of strategies that may be employed by a language in describing them.
Parental Involvement, Student Active Engagement and the "Secondary Slump" Phenomenon--Evidence from a Three-Year Study in a Barbadian Secondary School.

This study examined the relationship between parental involvement and a proximal student academic outcome–active engagement, for a cohort of 160 students on their transition to secondary school and at three subsequent time periods. The student-reported measures were assessed using the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2005) instrument. Results provide clear evidence of the ‘secondary slump’ phenomenon with a consistent decline in each of the four parental involvement subscales (parent modeling, parent instruction, parent encouragement, parent reinforcement) and with female students reported significantly higher levels of parental involvement than males. A similar pattern of decline emerged for students’ level of active engagement across the three years of the study; however, no gender differences were seen. In addition, the findings suggest a significant positive relationship between each of the four parental involvement constructs and active engagement. In discussing ways to address this ‘secondary slump’, discussions focused on a revision of the parental involvement instrument to include items which are more reflective of today’s increased use of the Internet and social media to facilitate interactions between parents and schools.
The Effect of Government Debt and Other Determinants on Economic Growth: The Greek Experience

This study empirically investigates the relationship between economic growth and several factors (investment, private and government consumption, trade openness, population growth and government debt) in Greece, where imbalances persist several years after the financial crisis. The results reveal a long-run relationship between variables. Investment as private and government consumption and trade openness affect positively growth. On the other hand, there is a negative long-run effect of government debt and population growth on growth. Furthermore, the study addresses the issue of break effects between government debt and economic growth. The results indicate that the relationship between debt and growth depends on the debt breaks. Specifically, at debt levels before 2000, increases in the government debt-to-GDP ratio are associated with insignificant effects on economic growth. However, as government debt rises after 2000, the effect on economic growth diminishes rapidly and the growth impacts become negative. The challenge for policy makers in Greece is to halt the rising of government debt by keeping a sustainable growth path. Fiscal discipline should be combined with the implementation of coherent, consistent and sequential growth-enhancing structural reforms.
A Time for Being Thankful: Balanced Time Perspective and Gratitude

The aim of this report is twofold: 1) to demonstrate how grateful disposition is related to time perspectives in late adolescents and young people in the process of transition into early adulthood; 2) to verify whether age indeed moderates the relationship between the present-hedonistic dimension and gratitude, as well as future and gratitude in such a way that these relationships are stronger in high school students and undergraduates than in graduates. The results provide strong support for the hypothesis that gratitude is higher in the case of the past-positive, present-hedonistic, and future time perspectives. As regards the reverse correlations, deviation from a balanced time perspective is positively associated with gratitude GQ-6 and IPIP-VIA. This suggests that different types of focus on recalling the past, experiencing the present, and facing the future might predict a grateful disposition and gratitude. Moreover, age moderated the relationship between the present-hedonistic perspective and gratitude.
Global Climate and Atmospheric Composition of the Ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-103b from HST and Spitzer Phase Curve Observations

We present thermal phase curve measurements for the hot Jupiter WASP-103b observed with Hubble/WFC3 and Spitzer/IRAC. The phase curves have large amplitudes and negligible hotspot offsets, indicative of poor heat redistribution to the nightside. We fit the phase variation with a range of climate maps and find that a spherical harmonics model generally provides the best fit. The phase-resolved spectra are consistent with blackbodies in the WFC3 bandpass, with brightness temperatures ranging from 1880 ± 40 K on the nightside to 2930 ± 40 K on the dayside. The dayside spectrum has a significantly higher brightness temperature in the Spitzer bands, likely due to CO emission and a thermal inversion. The inversion is not present on the nightside. We retrieved the atmospheric composition and found that it is moderately metal-enriched ( ) and the carbon-to-oxygen ratio is below 0.9 at 3σ confidence. In contrast to cooler hot Jupiters, we do not detect spectral features from water, which we attribute to partial H2O dissociation. We compare the phase curves to 3D general circulation models and find that magnetic drag effects are needed to match the data. We also compare the WASP-103b spectra to brown dwarfs and young, directly imaged companions. We find that these objects have significantly larger water features, indicating that surface gravity and irradiation environment play an important role in shaping the spectra of hot Jupiters. These results highlight the 3D structure of exoplanet atmospheres and illustrate the importance of phase curve observations for understanding their complex chemistry and physics.
Which Emotional Intelligence？ A Comparison of Measures and Implications for Counseling Psychology

The increased application of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in psychology warrants clarification of conceptualization and measurement approaches. Two predominant measures of EI, the Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi), were compared with bivariate and factor analysis techniques. The absence of common factor structures, pattern of low subtest correlations, and distinct relations to cognitive reasoning suggest that the instruments measure significantly different constructs. It would be erroneous to assume that EI is one unified concept. Implications are that counseling psychologists be aware of the distinct models of EI in order to coordinate effective assessment and interventions.
SELECTIVITY BIAS IN MODELS OF DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS CHOICE: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

In this paper is discussed an application of a recently developed econometric technique for correcting selectivity bias in discrete and continuous modeling systems with multiple discrete choices. The case studied is the household's choice of type of vehicle to own and the extent to which it is utilized. An appropriate model structure is formulated, and vehicle utilization equations that do and do not account for selectivity bias are estimated. The empirical results strongly underscore the importance of proper econometric treatment of discrete and continuous modeling systems.
Corporate Governance and Earnings Management: A Meta-Analysis

The goal of this paper is to meta-analyze the results of 35 studies that examine the effect on earnings management of firms’ boards of directors and ownership structure.We examine whether differences in results are attributable to moderating effects related to the system of corporate governance, the measurement of the governance variable, or the particular specifications of discretionary accruals models. The findings show that the variation in the results of previous studies on CEO duality and audit committee independence are caused by sampling error. In addition, the measurement of dependent variable, discretionary accruals, and the corporate governance system moderate the association between earnings management and some corporate governance variables. The measurement of variables, especially discretionary accruals, influences the findings found in previous studies. The findings emphasize the need to explicitly consider the legal and institutional setting when one analyzes the effect of mechanisms of corporate governance on discretionary accruals. Future research should include matrix correlations, and consider detailed measures of earnings management and more attributes of boards of directors in order to facilitate research using meta-analysis. The results suggest that board independence, board size, and audit committee independence can improve investor confidence by constraining earnings management. Additional empirical evidence regarding refined measures of ownership and board, specifically board independence, would be very useful in gaining greater understanding of how the different approaches to these constructs influence earnings management.
Work stress, work–home interference and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between work stress, work-home interference, and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in the Zimbabwean context. Data were collected from a sample of 190 employees (females=46%) who completed the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R), the Work-Home Interference Questionnaire (SWING), and the Organisational Culture Index (OCI). Data analysis consisted of correlational and standard multiple regression analyses. The results revealed significant positive correlations between the sub-scales Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, Role Ambiguity, Role Boundary, Responsibilities, and Physical Environment of the OSI-R, the sub-scales Positive Work-Home Interference and Negative Work-Home Interference of the SWING, and the sub-scales Bureaucratic, Innovative and Supportive Culture of the OCI. These findings contribute to new knowledge in terms of the work stress experienced by insurance employees who are always under continuous pressure from the industry. Furthermore, it could be used to gain insight to enhance the work-life balance of insurance employees and the effect of organisational culture as perceived by insurance employees.
The Interplay of Coding and Non-Coding Regulations in Mouse Spermatogenesis

Spermatogenesis is an essential biological process to produce functional male gametes from undifferentiated progenitor cells throughout the reproductive age. Success in a series of differentiation of stem cell-like progenitor cells is a complex cascade and involves sophisticated regulations by various types of molecules in the developing germ cell. In this review, we will discuss the role of different groups of germline biomolecules, including some protein coding genes, microRNAs, piRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in leading to a complete cycle of mouse spermatogenesis. We will also share our perspective on future research opportunities on lncRNA regulations in spermatogenesis. Development of male gametes in mammals is regarded as one of the most efficient biological processes, which is characterized by a continuous production of sperms from puberty till the end of reproductive age, which lasts for more than a half of male lifespan. It would not be possible to achieve successful spermatogenesis without numerous regulatory molecules in germ cells accomplishing their functions. We will discuss in the following parts how four types of regulatory molecules are so important in different stages in spermatogenesis.
Electromigration in Pb-free SnAg3.8Cu0.7 solder stripes

Electromigration behavior in the eutectic SnAg3.8Cu0. 7 solder stripes was investigated in the vicinity of the device operation temperature of 100°C by using the edge displacement technique. Measurements were made for relevant parameters for electromigration of the solder, such as drift velocity, threshold current density, activation energy, as well as the product of diffusivity and effective charge number (DZ*). The threshold current densities were estimated to be 4.3×104A∕cm2 at 80°C, 3.2×104A∕cm2 at 100°C, and 1.4×104A∕cm2 at 120°C. These values represent the maximum current densities that the SnAg3.8Cu0. 7 solder can carry without electromigration damage at the three stressing temperatures. The electromigration activation energy was determined to be 0.45eV in the temperature range of 80–120°C. The measured products of diffusivity and the effective charge number, DZ*, were −1.8×10−10cm2∕s at 80°C, −5.0×10−10cm2∕s at 100°C, and −7.2×10−10cm2∕s at 120°C.