bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Job satisfaction as a form of organizational commitment at the military strategic level
Authors: Alvinius Aida , Johansson Eva , Larsson Gerry
Published: March 2017

Purpose

It has been claimed that job satisfaction is the most important and frequently studied attitude in organizational behaviour research. However, as most studies relate to lower hierarchical levels, the purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of job satisfaction and organizational commitment among high-level managers – military leaders in this case.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded theory approach was used. The empirical material is based on 12 interviews, two of which were with women. The informants had wide experience of a number of leadership positions as well as participation in international operations. Their ranks ranged from Colonel to Brigadier General, and they represented army and naval units, the Armed Forces Headquarters and Swedish Defence University.

Findings

The qualitative analysis resulted in a theoretical model that describes the job satisfaction of military leaders at the strategic level, which concerns establishing and balancing organizational commitment. This means that top level managers develop, manage and recreate a “sense of oneness” between themselves and the organization – a strong identification that is established, challenged, changed and renegotiated in a continuous process. Establishing and balancing organizational commitment is built on two overarching categories: keeping up the organizational image and responding to organizational greediness.

Research limitations/implications

Research limitations are as follows: small sample, lack of representativeness and lack of elaboration on possible gender-related aspects.

Practical implications

The suggested model may be valuable in educational settings when evaluating the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of high-level officers. The model may have practical implications when it comes to selection, retention and leader development of high-level military officers.

Originality/value

A new integrative, theoretical model of job satisfaction and organizational commitment of high-level officers is developed and discussed.
Reconfiguring the firm’s core technological portfolio through open innovation: focusing on technological M&A
Authors: Shin Seungryul Ryan , Han John , Marhold Klaus , Kang Jina
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of open innovation, especially focusing on technological M&A, on subsequent innovation and changes to the firm’s core technological portfolio.

Design/methodology/approach

The study suggests three types of core technological areas, based on prior focus and experience in technological categories. These are 1) the existing core area, in which the acquirer firm retains its knowledge and expertise, 2) the enhanced core area, where knowledge and expertise in the acquirer firm’s insufficient areas are strengthened, and 3) the new core area, i.e. new knowledge fields in which the acquirer firm ventures into. The study then analyzes the effects of two key knowledge characteristics of the target firm, similarity and complementarity, on post-M&A innovation outcomes in each of the three core technological areas.

Findings

The results confirm that while none of the investigated knowledge characteristics of the target firm is advantageous for post-M&A innovation outcomes in existing core areas, similarity of the target firm does facilitate post-M&A innovation outcomes in enhanced core areas. Moreover, the results confirm that complementarity of the target firm is beneficial for post-M&A innovation outcomes in new core areas.

Originality/value

The study explains the reconfiguration mechanism of a firm’s core technological portfolio. It also suggests an extended framework to analyze innovation outcomes in more detail. Moreover, the study helps to explain why most M&As result in failure.
Teams and lead creators in cultural and creative industries: evidence from the Italian haute cuisine
Authors: Savino Tommaso , Messeni Petruzzelli Antonio , Albino Vito
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Into cultural and creative industries, the innovation is increasingly realized by a lead creator which is supported by a specific team. Hence, this paper aims to understand the composition of this particular team.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted an in-depth case study of “Dal Pescatore”. This is the Italian restaurant keeping the highest award previewed by Michelin Guide from the longer period. The main figures of the restaurant are the head chefs (Nadia and Giovanni Santini) who are continually supported by a dedicated team

Findings

The analysis underlines the necessity to create a team which combines aged people linked to firms’ tradition with a low percentage of young foreign apprentices. If the old-timer member assures a deep understanding of the firm’s knowledge base, the young foreign apprentice can show an high learning attitude through which he/she more easily shares their different knowledge.

Research limitations/implications

This study discussed organizational efforts to foster innovation capacities of the main individuals into a firm. However, the present research suffers from some limitations which limits the generalizability of the results beyond the company studied: a single case study on a small and family firm with consolidated organizational routines. In addition, this research does not solutions about the mechanisms of interaction among these different team members.

Originality/value

Recent studies observed how a number of cultural and creative firms innovate through a particular team that develops the ideas of a lead creator. Nevertheless, despite the increasing importance of these teams, their composition remains unclear.
On the path towards open innovation: assessing the role of knowledge management capability and environmental dynamism in SMEs
Authors: Martinez-Conesa Isabel , Soto-Acosta Pedro , Carayannis Elias George
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This study aims to shed light on the internal and external antecedents of open innovation (OI) in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a special focus on the role of knowledge management (KM) capability. The paper develops and tests an integrative research model which assesses the effect of internal factors on KM capability; the impact of organizational and external factors, namely, KM capability and environmental dynamism, on OI; and whether environmental dynamism moderates the relationship between KM capability and OI.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the knowledge-based view and the social exchange and the contingency theories, this paper develops an integrative research model which analyzes several relations between organizational antecedents of KM capability and its effect on OI by using covariance-based structural equation modeling on a data set of Spanish SMEs.

Findings

Results confirm that information technology-supported operations and commitment-based human resource practices have a positive and significant influence on KM capability. In contrast, results do not find support for the relationship between interdepartmental connectedness and KM capability, whereas both KM capability and environmental dynamism have a direct influence on OI.

Originality/value

This paper adds to existing research on OI, as it is the first study that addresses the critical role of KM capability for the implementation of OI.
Knowledge-driven preferences in informal inbound open innovation modes. An explorative view on small to medium enterprises
Authors: Scuotto Veronica , Del Giudice Manlio , Bresciani Stefano , Meissner Dirk
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate three key factors (i.e. cognitive dimensions, the knowledge-driven approach and absorptive capacity) that are likely to determine the preference for informal inbound open innovation (OI) modes, through the lens of the OI model and knowledge-based view (KBV). The innovation literature has differentiated these collaborations into informal inbound OI entry modes and formal inbound OI modes, offering an advocative and conceptual view. However, empirical studies on these collaborations are still limited.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the above-mentioned theoretical framework, the empirical research was performed in two stages. First, data were collected via a closed-ended questionnaire distributed to all the participants from the sample by e-mail. Second, to assess the hypotheses, structural equation modelling (SEM) via IBM® SPSS® Amos 20 was applied.

Findings

The empirical research was conducted on 175 small to medium enterprises in the United Kingdom, suggesting that the knowledge-driven approach is the strongest determinant, leading to a preference for informal inbound OI modes. The findings were obtained using SEM and are discussed in line with the theoretical framework.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to the chosen context and sector of the empirical analysis, the research results may lack generalisability. Hence, new studies are proposed.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the development of informal inbound OI led by knowledge-driven approach.

Originality/value

This paper offers an empirical research to investigate knowledge-driven preferences in informal inbound OI modes.
Big data investments in knowledge and non-knowledge intensive firms: what the market tells us
Authors: Zhang Tingting , Wang William Yu Chung , Pauleen David J.
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the value of big data investments by examining the market reaction to company announcements of big data investments and tests the effect for firms that are either knowledge intensive or not.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on an event study using data from two stock markets in China.

Findings

The stock market sees an overall index increase in stock prices when announcements of big data investments are revealed by grouping all the listed firms included in the sample. Increased stock prices are also the case for non-knowledge intensive firms. However, the stock market does not seem to react to big data investment announcements by testing the knowledge intensive firms along.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the literature on assessing the economic value of big data investments from the perspective of big data information value chain by taking an unexpected change in stock price as the measure of the financial performance of the investment and by comparing market reactions between knowledge intensive firms and non-knowledge intensive firms. Findings of this study can be used to refine practitioners’ understanding of the economic value of big data investments to different firms and provide guidance to their future investments in knowledge management to maximize the benefits along the big data information value chain. However, findings of study should be interpreted carefully when applying them to companies that are not publicly traded on the stock market or listed on other financial markets.

Originality/value

Based on the concept of big data information value chain, this study advances research on the economic value of big data investments. Taking the perspective of stock market investors, this study investigates how the stock market reacts to big data investments by comparing the reactions to knowledge-intensive firms and non-knowledge-intensive firms. The results may be particularly interesting to those publicly traded companies that have not previously invested in knowledge management systems. The findings imply that stock investors tend to believe that big data investment could possibly increase the future returns for non-knowledge-intensive firms.
Control and autonomy irony in communities of practice from a power-based perspective
Authors: Thomas Nobin
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The extant literature provides evidence that control measures employed in communities of practice (CoPs) have undergone significant changes with the evolution of the concept. When it started as a self-organized group, its members had the freedom to pursue their own interests. Now, CoPs are moving closer toward bureaucratic form of control. The purpose of this paper is to discuss that although it might still be difficult to locate the power base in a CoP, undercurrents suggest that they have a strong affinity for managements’ interests.

Design/methodology/approach

This approach taken in this paper is to present a historical background, contrast characteristics of present CoPs with its earlier versions and develop propositions highlighting a power-based perspective on leadership, sponsorship and objectives for CoPs within an existing organization.

Findings

The authors have found that power in a CoP has undergone tremendous changes from the time when it was introduced by Lave and Wenger (1991). When it started as a self-organized group, control exerted was null and void, as the members were given freedom to pursue their interests. The paper shows that CoPs can be formed intentionally, which is quite contrary to the common belief that they emerge naturally. Now, CoPs are moving closer toward bureaucratic form of control with the setting up of governance committees. This has serious repercussions for their autonomy, as envisaged by the early proponents of CoP, who believed that closely knit informal groups would enhance situational learning.

Originality/value

There is a general feeling that the word “autonomy” is a misnomer for CoP today. The power that once rested with the CoP group has been taken over by management in the form of sponsorship, goal congruency, etc. What appears as powerful in a CoP today is the sponsor and the CoP has ceased to exist as they used to be. This paper makes it clear that a CoP approach can provide value to the modern organization. However, if the issues discussed herein with regard to organizational power are not appropriately accounted for, CoP may fall short of expectations.
The effect of suspicious executives on tax shelters in Iran
Authors: Salehi Mahdi , Salimi Shantia
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between suspicious executives and tax shelters.

Design/methodology/approach

Sample includes the 155 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during a period of seven years, from 2008 to 2015. Data were analyzed by using logistic panel regression with R software.

Findings

The results show that there is no association between the presence of suspicious executives and tax shelters or the firm value or both of them (tax shelters and the firm value).

Originality/value

The authors also investigated the implications of the firm value on suspicious executives. These findings are crucial to the state. However, several studies with similar subjects have been conducted in different countries. The current research is the first study in Iran.
Social capital and career advancement of female academic staff in Nigerian universities
Authors: Hassan Abubakar Idris , Baharom Mohd Nazri , Abdul Mutalib Rozita
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the social capital factors of career advancement of female academic staff in Nigerian universities.

Design/methodology/approach

A measurement and structural analysis were conducted for the three independent variables and a dependent variable on 20 public universities. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The dependent variable was female academic staff career advancement and the independent variables were mentoring, networking and government machinery. Using stratified random sampling, 532 academic staff were selected as the study respondents. They represented sampling criteria such as federal and state universities.

Findings

Structural modeling analysis showed that social capital variables, specifically mentoring, networking and government machinery variables, were significant contributors to the career advancement of the female academic staff in Nigerian universities.

Practical implications

This study creates an insight into the knowledge of career advancement among female academic staff in public universities. These institutions dominate the university system in Nigeria and serve as the main avenue for university education in the country. At the level of higher institution, HRD is significant, particularly in creating awareness among academic staff about their career planning and aspirations, the role that the perceived environmental factors play in their advancement to higher positions in the university and how they should further utilize those factors.

Originality/value

The paper examines social capital factors (limited to mentoring, networking and government machinery) that are of concern to managing the career advancement of female academic staff in public universities.
An experimental investigation of knowledge acquisition techniques
Authors: Dehghani Maryam , Akhavan Peyman
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Knowledge is a key driver for the competitive success of organizations, but about 90 percent of organizational knowledge is inside employees’ minds with personal essence; therefore, this paper provides valuable vision for managers by exploring knowledge acquisition (KA) techniques and personality type. The purpose of this paper is to examine KA techniques and explore the impact of personality type on the KA process in the aerospace industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines KA techniques through an empirical study involving 83 participants to take part in KA sessions. For exploring techniques, a questionnaire was used, and also the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was used to identify participants’ personality type. The impact of personality type on KA processes was determined by correlation analysis.

Findings

Analyses confirmed some association between the type of personality and KA process. In addition, the findings of exploring questionnaire items showed that participants gave the laddering technique the highest rating.

Originality/value

The paper may be of high value to researchers in the field of KA, especially in aerospace industries, because there is very little experimental investigation of KA, and it also provides valuable information and guidelines that hopefully will help researchers to select appropriate KA techniques.
The influence of organizational justice on job performance
Authors: Swalhi Abdelaziz , Zgoulli Saloua , Hofaidhllaoui Mahrane
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose two models: the first examines the impact of different dimension of justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) on job performance taking into consideration the mediating role of affective commitment and the second model utilizes the notion of overall justice to predict job performance considering the mediating role of affective commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted with a sample group of 343 employees working within French small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Findings

The results support the mediating role of affective commitment between organizational justice and job performance and demonstrate that overall justice has a greater effect on affective commitment than specific dimensions of justice.

Originality/value

The current study is the first to explore the relationship between JP and OJ, with the latter being measured in more than one focus, in the French SMEs. Therefore, this study contributes to bridge the gap in the understanding of the relationship between OJ and JP in the SMEs. In the French context of SMEs, the authors have stressed the relevance of the perception of organizational justice as a factor affecting the behavior and performance of employees which is then reflected in the success of these firms. In this paper the authors propose two models, with significant implications for researchers, managers, and HR departments. The first examines the impact of different dimension of justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) on job performance taking into consideration the mediating role of affective commitment. The second model utilizes the notion of overall justice to predict job performance considering the mediating role of affective commitment.
Gap analysis for innovative firm acquisition – acquirer and acquired party perspectives
Authors: Öberg Christina , Leminen Seppo
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Companies often aspire to create advantages for their businesses through acquisitions. Their participation has increasingly been documented to include different motives for acquirers, while focusing less on the ambitions of acquired parties with the acquisitions. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss gaps and the handling of gaps between acquirers and acquired parties in acquisitions of innovative firms.

Design/methodology/approach

In the paper, the authors specifically focus on acquisitions of innovative firms. Four case studies illustrate gaps between the acquirers and the acquired parties.

Findings

The authors conclude that gaps may be present from the start as latent gaps, and become activated in integration or as the consequence of non-integration decisions. Gaps between the acquirer and the acquired party may be further manifested in external parties’ reactions to the integration. The handling of gaps emphasizes a transition time and communication about expectations between the acquirer and the acquired party.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to previous research on mergers and acquisitions in general, and acquisitions of innovative firms in particular. Prior literature on acquisitions is scarce on descriptions of gaps or the handling of gaps. Gaps complement ideas on differences in culture between acquirers and acquired parties. It also highlights how acquired parties have as much intention with an acquisition as acquirers.
Grasping the business value of online communities
Authors: Iskoujina Zilia , Ciesielska Malgorzata , Roberts Joanne , Li Feng
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the definitions, dimensions, and classifications of online communities together with their potential to produce value for business. Those value options are then discussed in the context of empirical vignettes showing examples of business models focussed on one of the two potential benefits coming from online communities – clear financial gains and intangible long-run returns.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses systematic literature review method. In total, 67 academic paper in the area of business and management were chosen for the analysis.

Findings

The literature review shows multitude of online communities definitions and classifications, but hardly any comprehensive attempt to map the phenomena in full. This paper is looking into recognising potential revenue streams from online businesses and other non-financial benefits that can be combined to create strong and sustainable value proposition.

Originality/value

Drawing on the literature reviewed a novel categorisation of the commercial opportunities offered by the online communities is presented. These opportunities are discussed in a context of business model design.
Everyday narratives: CEO rhetoric on Twitter
Authors: Grafström Maria , Falkman Lena Lid
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper investigates the everyday CEO communication in social media, with particular focus on Twitter. The purpose of this paper is to contribute with insights into how expectations on corporate leaders to be present in social media are translated into everyday communication practice and thereby add to literature on narrative leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis of the Twitter feed of Håkan Nygren, the CEO of the Swedish digital bank Nordnet. In order to answer the question – what are the stories and the rhetoric of a CEO in the banking sector an ordinary day? – the data set covers the totality of tweets by Nygren from 10 April 2013 to 31 December 2015.

Findings

The everyday Twitter narrative of Nyberg challenges established ideas of social media about personalised tone and interactions by highlighting three characteristics: limited scope of actors and content including the local Nordnet sphere, a formal tone in the tweets mainly based on corporate information and presentation, and few examples of dialogue and a limited number of voices outside of Nordnet. The data set of Nyberg’s Twitter feed during a period without any major events or crises for Nordnet paints a picture of a rather non-personal CEO with limited ideas on his mind to share online and with few friends.

Originality/value

Studies on social media and corporate communication have largely focussed on organisational crises. This study focuses on everyday narratives of managers and proves that the role of social media must be interpreted more broadly and as playing multiple roles, and that these roles are changing due to time and situation.
Narrating organizational spaces
Authors: Ropo Arja , Höykinpuro Ritva
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the narrative nature of organizational spaces and how these narratives influence human action. The study introduces a notion of “narrating space” that emphasizes a narrative construction of space that is dynamic and performative. The study joins the recent material and spatial turn in organization studies where spaces are not considered merely as a container or a context to organizational action, but as a dynamic and active force.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on the triadic conception of space of Henry Lefebvre (1991). Lefebvre developed three interconnected dimensions of space: conceived, perceived and lived space. Space can be conceived as an abstract architectural plan or perceived through the practice of space. The dimension that integrates these two is the lived space. Spaces are experienced through emotions, imagination and embodied sensations. Instead of being a passive object, spaces become active and performative through the human engagement. They carry narratives that change their form as time passes by. The study embraces aesthetic, embodied epistemology where sensuous perceptions are considered as valid knowledge.

Findings

The study applies an aesthetic and dynamic approach to space and illustrates how spaces carry performative and processual narratives. These narratives are based on lived experience through personal, embodied experience, memories and sensuous perceptions. The illustrations also show that narratives change over time.

Research limitations/implications

A narrating space concept is characterized by being subjective, dynamic and temporal. Furthermore, it is pointed out that space is constructed through sense-based experiences. A metaphor of an amoeba is offered to depict the nature of the phenomenon. The amoeba metaphor points out that space narratives are dynamic and changing. The study adds to a better awareness of space as a sensuous narrative. Beyond being an isolated personal experience, the study and the illustrations enhance a material view to organizational narratives.

Practical implications

The study suggests that managers, architects and designers should take notice of spaces as narratives that involve temporal and sensuous experiences when planning and (re)designing work environments. Due to the subjective and temporal nature of organizational spaces they are manageable only to a limited extent. Therefore, to appreciate an active narrating nature of organizational spaces, employee involvement in planning and (re)designing spaces is encouraged.

Originality/value

First, the paper enhances the awareness of organizational spaces as sensuous narratives. Second, it adds a material aspect to narratives. Third, it advances an aesthetic and embodied approach to narrative organization research.
The Anglo‐Scottish War of 1558 and the Scottish Reformation
Authors: BLAKEWAY AMY
Published: March 2017

The year 1558 was one of open war between England and Scotland. Previous scholarly accounts of this period have glossed over this conflict. This article first establishes the contours of the war. The failure of peace negotiations in the first portion of the year was linked to Scots’ hopes of an invasion of Berwick in the aftermath of the fall of Calais, and the tentative movements towards peace in October were disturbed by the death of Mary Tudor in November 1558. Beyond its implications for Anglo‐Scots relations, however, this conflict was significant in a domestic Scottish context. The second part of the article argues that the war interacted with better‐known factors such as the accession of Elizabeth I, anti‐French feeling and the growth of Protestant preaching to create the circumstances which made the Reformation Rebellion of 1559 possible. Increased mobility prompted by a national war effort, coupled with a governmental focus on defence, and reliance on reformers in the national army, simultaneously promoted the spread of reformed ideas and inhibited the authorities’ ability to contain them. The war of 1558 therefore helped to foster the growth of ‘heresy’, which in 1559 blossomed into full‐scale religious rebellion.
Inching towards wholeness: C.G. Jung and his relationship to Judaism
Authors: Zemmelman Steve
Published: March 2017

The evolution of Jung's relationship with Judaism is interpreted as reflecting aspects of the individuation journey over the course of a long life. The progress and limitations of his public positions and personal relationships are explored through his published work and correspondence. Perspectives from relational psychoanalysis and Jewish philosophy are used to amplify Jung's understanding of Jewish, and specifically Kabbalistic, text and image. Dimensions of the author's own journey toward greater acceptance of his own Jewish soul is also considered, along with the wider contemporary relevance of these themes.
Bridging worlds: participatory thinking in Jungian context
Authors: Brown Robin S.
Published: March 2017

Introducing the ‘participatory’ paradigm associated with the work of transpersonalists Richard Tarnas and Jorge Ferrer, the author outlines an approach to Jung's archetypal thinking that might offer a more adequate basis in which to ground a non‐reductive approach to practice. In order to demonstrate the relevance of this outlook at the present time, the author begins by examining recent debates concerning the nature of ‘truth’ in the clinical setting. Reflecting on the difficulties analysts face in attempting to maintain professional authority without falling into an implicit authoritarianism, it is argued that any approach to therapy seeking to orient itself towards ‘the unconscious’ must posit the challenges of pluralism as a central concern for practice. With reference to the relationship between analytical psychology and the psychoanalytic mainstream, attention is drawn to the theoretical problems raised by the relational commitment to constructivist epistemologies, and a consequent tendency towards biological reductionism. Turning to the Jungian literature, similar tensions are observed at play in the present state of analytical psychology. Drawing attention to the process‐oriented qualities of Jung's work, it is suggested that the speculative nature of Jung's psychology offers a more adequate basis for contemporary practice than might be assumed.
Disintegration of the self and the regeneration of ‘psychic skin’ in the treatment of traumatized refugees
Authors: Luci Monica
Published: March 2017

This paper presents a tentative understanding of the characteristics of the extreme traumas, elsewhere called ‘complex PTSD’, that some refugees and asylum‐seekers bring into therapy. It suggests that these kinds of traumas suffered during adulthood may involve a disintegration of the self and a loss of ‘psychic skin’. This conceptualization is derived from the treatment of a refugee who survived multiple extreme traumas and with whom efforts were made in therapy to identify a complex methodology making use of supplementary therapeutic tools in addition to individual psychotherapy. The case demonstrates how the disintegration of self implies not only a deep somato‐psychic dissociation, but also a loss of intrapsychic and interpersonal space. In the treatment this was worked through via repetition of the victim‐aggressor dynamics at multiple levels. In the end, the therapeutic context was structured like a set of concentric layers, creating a ‘bandage’ over the patient's wounds whilst his ‘psychic skin’ was able to regenerate. The conditions triggered by extreme traumas in refugees challenge some of the cornerstones of individual psychoanalytic technique, as well as the idea that individual therapy may be thought of as existing in an environmental vacuum.
The effect of landscape complexity and microclimate on the thermal tolerance of a pest insect
Authors: Alford Lucy , Tougeron Kévin , Pierre Jean‐Sébastien , Burel Françoise , van Baaren Joan
Published: March 2017

Landscape changes are known to exacerbate the impacts of climate change. As such, understanding the combined effect of climate and landscape on agroecosystems is vital if we are to maintain the function of agroecosystems. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of agricultural landscape complexity on the microclimate and thermal tolerance of an aphid pest to better understand how landscape and climate may interact to affect the thermal tolerance of pest species within the context of global climate change. Meteorological data were measured at the landscape level, and cereal aphids (Sitobion avenae,Metopolophium dirhodumandRhopalosiphum padi) sampled, from contrasting landscapes (simple and complex) in winter 2013/2014 and spring 2014 in cereal fields of Brittany, France. Aphids were returned to the laboratory and the effect of landscape of origin on aphid cold tolerance (as determined byCTmin) was investigated. Results revealed that local landscape complexity significantly affected microclimate, with simple homogenous landscapes being on average warmer, but with greater temperature variation. Landscape complexity was shown to impact aphid cold tolerance, with aphids from complex landscapes being more cold tolerant than those from simple landscapes in both winter and spring, but with differences among species. This study highlights that future changes to land use could have implications for the thermal tolerance and adaptability of insects. Furthermore, not all insect species respond in a similar way to microhabitat and microclimate, which could disrupt important predator–prey relationships and the ecosystem service they provide.
Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus transcriptomes reveal consequences of chemical pretreatment and genetic modification of lignocellulose
Authors: Blumer‐Schuette Sara E. , Zurawski Jeffrey V. , Conway Jonathan M. , Khatibi Piyum , Lewis Derrick L. , Li Quanzi , Chiang Vincent L. , Kelly Robert M.
Published: March 2017

Recalcitrance of plant biomass is a major barrier for commercially feasible cellulosic biofuel production. Chemical and enzymatic assays have been developed to measure recalcitrance and carbohydrate composition; however, none of these assays can directly report which polysaccharides a candidate microbe will sense during growth on these substrates. Here, we propose using the transcriptomic response of the plant biomass‐deconstructing microbe, Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus, as a direct measure of how suitable a sample of plant biomass may be for fermentation based on the bioavailability of polysaccharides. Key genes were identified using the global gene response of the microbe to model plant polysaccharides and various types of unpretreated, chemically pretreated and genetically modified plant biomass. While the majority of C. saccharolyticus genes responding were similar between plant biomasses; subtle differences were discernable, most importantly between chemically pretreated or genetically modified biomass that both exhibit similar levels of solubilization by the microbe. Furthermore, the results here present a new paradigm for assessing plant–microbe interactions that can be deployed as a biological assay to report on the complexity and recalcitrance of plant biomass.
Expansion of the ω‐oxidation system AlkBGTL of Pseudomonas putida GPo1 with AlkJ and AlkH results in exclusive mono‐esterified dicarboxylic acid production in E. coli
Authors: van Nuland Youri M. , de Vogel Fons A. , Eggink Gerrit , Weusthuis Ruud A.
Published: March 2017

The AlkBGTL proteins coded on the alk operon from Pseudomonas putida GPo1 can selectively ω‐oxidize ethyl esters of C6 to C10 fatty acids in whole‐cell conversions with Escherichia coli. The major product in these conversions is the ω‐alcohol. However, AlkB also has the capacity to overoxidize the substrate to the ω‐aldehyde and ω‐acid. In this study, we show that alcohol dehydrogenase AlkJ and aldehyde dehydrogenase AlkH are able to oxidize ω‐alcohols and ω‐aldehydes of esterified fatty acids respectively. Resting E. coli expressing AlkBGTHJL enabled exclusive mono‐ethyl azelate production from ethyl nonanoate, with an initial specific activity of 61 U gcdw−1. Within 2 h, this strain produced 3.53 mM mono‐ethyl azelate, with a yield of 0.68 mol mol−1. This strain also produced mono‐ethyl dicarboxylic acids from ethyl esters of C6 to C10 fatty acids and mono‐methyl azelate from methyl nonanoate. Adding ethyl nonanoate dissolved in carrier solvent bis‐(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate enabled an increase in product titres to 15.55 mM in two‐liquid phase conversions. These findings indicate that E. coli expressing AlkBGTHJL is an effective producer of mono‐esterified dicarboxylic acids from fatty acid esters.
THE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE INCUBATES ITS FIRST CLUB LEADERS
Authors: MacKenzie Annette
Published: March 2017

Co‐president of London Business School's Africa Club, Romain Assunção shares his leadership achievements and lessons after a year with the Incubator
SMALL DATA
Authors: Johnston Anna
Published: March 2017

Leadership in numbers
CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY: A NON‐NEGOTIABLE
Authors: Ioannou Ioannis
Published: March 2017

Maximising value for shareholders is the number‐one objective for most companies. Ioannis Ioannou explains why you must do good if you want your firm to do well
THE DEATH OF THE PUBLIC CORPORATION
Authors: Franks Julian , Mayer Colin
Published: March 2017

As the Centre for Corporate Governance and the Leadership Institute launch their collaborative research on ‘board effectiveness’, Julian Franks and Colin Mayer reflect on how targeted, disciplined and duty‐orientated stakeholder activism could drive stronger performance
Intra‐oral ignition of monopolar diathermy during transnasal humidified rapid‐insufflation ventilatory exchange (THRIVE)
Authors: Onwochei D. , El‐Boghdadly K. , Oakley R. , Ahmad I.
Published: March 2017

We present the case of unanticipated airway ignition during hard palate biopsy. Transnasal humidified rapid‐insufflation ventilatory exchange (THRIVE) and monopolar diathermy were utilised for the procedure, during which an arc arose from the diathermy tip to a titanium implant, causing a brief ignition on the monopolar diathermy grip. This case highlights the need for maintained awareness of fire risk when using diathermy in the presence of THRIVE during airway surgery.
Enclosures from Below: TheMushaa’in Contemporary Palestine
Authors: Alkhalili Noura
Published: March 2017

This article traces the declining fortunes of themushaa’, a once‐prominent Levantine culture of common land. Palestinians managed to resist attempts by the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate to break up themushaa’.Under Israeli colonization, the remaining commons are now subject to another type of appropriation: individual Palestinian contractors seize hold ofmushaa’land and build on it. This article introduces the concept of “enclosures from below”, whilst looking at the dynamics of seizure of the commons by Palestinian refugees, who once were peasants practisingmushaa’on their lands and are now landless, some having become expert contractors. I show that the contractors consider their actions to be a form of resistance against the settler colonial project, manifested in the advancing of the Wall and settlement expansion. This is described through a case study of the Shu'faat area in Jerusalem. Changing uses ofmushaa’land reflect wider tendencies in the Palestinian national project that has become increasingly individualized.
Hospital practices to promote breastfeeding: The effect of maternal age
Authors: Sipsma Heather L. , Jones Krista , Nickel Nathan C.
Published: March 2017

Background

Breastfeeding rates are disproportionately low among young mothers in the United States. Although the use of hospital practices to promote breastfeeding is widely supported, the extent to which these practices help explain breastfeeding disparities by maternal age is unclear. Accordingly, we aimed to explore how maternal age may affect (1) receipt of hospital practices and (2) associations between these practices and exclusive breastfeeding.

Methods

Data were derived from participants (n = 1598) of Listening to Mothers III, a national survey administered to mothers of singleton births in United States hospitals from July 2011 to June 2012. We used multivariable logistic regression models and interaction terms to examine maternal age as an effect modifier.

Results

Compared with mothers aged 30 and older, mothers aged 18‐19 had lower odds of reporting that nurses helped them initiate breastfeeding when ready (OR 0.59 [95% CI 0.35‐0.99]), they roomed‐in with their baby (OR 0.32 [95% CI 0.19‐54]) and they did not receive a pacifier (OR 0.53 [95% CI 0.32‐0.90]). Many associations with breastfeeding were stronger among mothers aged 18‐19 and 20‐24 than mothers aged 25‐29 and 30 and older. Additionally, compared with receiving a pacifier, not receiving a pacifier was associated with greater odds of exclusive breastfeeding at 1 week among mothers aged 30 and older (OR 1.47 [95% CI 1.02‐2.11]) but lower odds among mothers aged 18‐19 (OR 0.26 [95% CI 0.10‐0.70]).

Conclusions

Hospital practices to promote breastfeeding may be differentially implemented by maternal age. Encouraging teenage mothers to room‐in with their babies may be particularly important for reducing breastfeeding disparities. Pacifier use among babies of teenage mothers requires further exploration.
Cephalometric findings among children with velopharyngeal dysfunction following adenoidectomy—A retrospective study
Authors: Kassem F. , Ebner Y. , Nageris B. , Watted N. , DeRowe A. , Nachmani A.
Published: March 2017

Objectives

To characterise the craniofacial structure by cephalometry, especially the skull base and nasopharyngeal space, in children who underwent adenoidectomy and developed persistent velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD).

Design

Retrospective study.

Setting

Speech and swallowing clinic of a single academic hospital.

Participants

Thirty‐nine children with persistent VPD following adenoidectomy (mean age 8.0±3.6 years) and a control group of 80 healthy children.

Main outcome measures

Cephalometric landmarks were chosen; craniofacial linear and angular dimensions were measured and analysed.

Results

The linear dimensions of the nasopharyngeal area were shorter in the VPD group, S‐Ba (41.6±4.2 mm, P<.05) and S‐Ptm (42.4±5.1 mm, P<.05). The anterior skull base, N‐S, was similar (68.1 mm±6.8).

The velum length, Ptm‐P was significantly shorter in the VPD group (27.8±4.3 mm, P<.001). The Ba‐S‐Ptm angle was significantly larger in the VPD group (63.5±5.6°, P<.001). There was no significant difference in cranial base angle (CBA), Ba‐S‐N, between the two groups.

Conclusions

Cephalometry may provide information regarding persistent postoperative VPD. The nasopharyngeal space angle and velar length appear to be risk factors for persistent VPD after adenoidectomy.
Turf war or collusion: An empirical investigation of conflict of interest between large shareholders
Authors: Wang Zhonghui “Hugo”
Published: March 2017

Manuscript Type

Empirical

Research Question/Issue

Does the smaller blockholder monitor or collude with a larger counterpart in a two‐blockholder firm? Does the larger blockholder prefer not to share private benefits with the smaller blockholder or partially yield control to the smaller counterpart in a coalition? What are the contingent factors that influence the conflict of interest among large shareholders?

Research Findings/Insights

In two‐blockholder firms, the voting power of the larger blockholder negatively impacts the presence of the cumulative voting rule, even if the rule is positively associated with firm value and provides the smaller blockholder a better opportunity to elect directors despite the competition from the larger blockholder. Voting power concentration negatively impacts the adoption of the cumulative voting rule in two‐blockholder firms. The more voting power a smaller blockholder can employ to contest the largest blockholder, the more likely the two‐blockholder firm will observe the cumulative voting rule. Two‐blockholder firms are more likely to observe the cumulative voting rule when a coalition of blockholders has voting power that falls far below a threshold that warrants control of the firm.

Theoretical/Academic Implications

The empirical analysis of the paper suggests that the larger blockholder is willing to defend the control of the firm and the ability to pursue private benefits at the cost of firm value. The smaller blockholder is more likely to yield to the power of the larger blockholder and choose to collude rather than compete with the largest blockholder. The motivation and ability of a smaller blockholder to monitor the larger blockholder is contingent upon the voting power balance of the two blockholders.

Practitioner/Policy Implications

Minority investors should be alert to potential collusion among large shareholders. Regulators should consider enforcing the cumulative voting rule more widely to facilitate shareholder democracy and improve firm value.