bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The MADS-Domain Factors AGAMOUS-LIKE15 and AGAMOUS-LIKE18, along with SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE and AGAMOUS-LIKE24, Are Necessary to Block Floral Gene Expression during the Vegetative Phase
Authors: Fernandez Donna E. , Wang Chieh-Ting , Zheng Yumei , Adamczyk Benjamin J. , Singhal Rajneesh , Hall Pamela K. , Perry Sharyn E.
Published: June 2014

Multiple factors, including the MADS-domain proteins AGAMOUS-LIKE15 (AGL15) and AGL18, contribute to the regulation of the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. AGL15 and AGL18 were previously shown to act redundantly as floral repressors and upstream of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). A series of genetic and molecular experiments, primarily focused on AGL15, was performed to more clearly define their role. agl15 agl18 mutations fail to suppress ft mutations but show additive interactions with short vegetative phase (svp) mutations in ft and suppressor of constans1 (soc1) backgrounds. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses with AGL15-specific antibodies indicate that AGL15 binds directly to the FT locus at sites that partially overlap those bound by SVP and FLOWERING LOCUS C. In addition, expression of AGL15 in the phloem effectively restores wild-type flowering times in agl15 agl18 mutants. When agl15 agl18 mutations are combined with agl24 svp mutations, the plants show upward curling of rosette and cauline leaves, in addition to early flowering. The change in leaf morphology is associated with elevated levels of FT and ectopic expression of SEPALLATA3 (SEP3), leading to ectopic expression of floral genes. Leaf curling is suppressed by sep3 and ft mutations and enhanced by soc1 mutations. Thus, AGL15 and AGL18, along with SVP and AGL24, are necessary to block initiation of floral programs in vegetative organs.
Ethyl 2,6-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1-isocyano-4-oxocyclohexanecarboxylate
Authors: Zhang Dawei , Yang Peng , Liu Wei , Li Jing
Published: June 2014

In the title compound, C22H19Cl2NO3, the central six-membered ring is in a twist-boat conformation. The two aryl groups are in equatorial positions,transto each other and with a dihedral angle of 77.50 (2)° between them. One of the least hindered –CH2– groups and one of the aryl-substituted C atoms, with its axial H atom, are in the flagpole positions. The ethoxycarbonyl group is in an equatorial position and iscisto the second aryl group. In the crystal, molecules are linkedviaweak C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [010].
N-Methyl-2-(1-methyl-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-ylidene)hydrazinecarbothioamide
Authors: Rocha Fillipe Vieira , Godoy Netto Adelino Vieira de , Beck Johannes , Daniels Jörg , Oliveira Adriano Bof de
Published: June 2014

In the title compound, C12H15N3S, the molecule deviates slightly from planarity, with a maximum deviation from the mean plane of the non-H atoms of 0.2756 (6) Å for the S atom and a torsion angle for the N—N—C—N fragment of −7.04 (16)°. In the crystal, molecules are linked by N—H...S hydrogen-bond interactions, forming centrosymmetric dimers. Additionally, one weak intramolecular N—H...N hydrogen-bond interaction is observed. The crystal packing shows a herringbone arrangement viewed along thecaxis.
Hexa-μ2-chlorido-μ4-oxido-tetrakis[(morpholine-κN)copper(II)] methanol disolvate
Authors: Gubina Kateryna , Ovchynnikov Vladimir , Amirkhanov Vladimir
Published: June 2014

In the title solvate, [Cu4(μ2-Cl)6(μ4-O)(C4H9NO)4]·2CH3OH, each Cu2+ion in the tetranuclear complex has a trigonal–bipyramidal coordination arising from three bridging chloride ions in equatorial positions and the central μ4-O2−ion and morpholine N atom in axial positions. The morpholine rings adopt chair conformations, with the N—Cu bonds in equatorial orientations. In the crystal, the components are linked by N—H...O and O—H...O and O—H...Cl hydrogen bonds, which generate a three-dimensional network. One methanol molecule is disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.642 (9):0.358 (9) ratio.
The roles and competencies of HR managers in Slovenian multinational companies
Authors: Kohont Andrej , Brewster Chris
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The HRM literature provides various typologies of the HR managers’ roles in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the roles and required competencies of HR managers in Slovenian multinational companies change when these companies enter the international arena.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors explored the total population of 25 Slovenian multinational companies (MNCs) operating in Serbia. In these companies the authors conducted interviews with 16 expatriates working in branches in Serbia, sent questionnaires to the CEOs, and conducted a survey of 50 HR managers and interviews with 15 of them. The authors used a triangulation approach and analyzed the results by multivariate methods and content analysis.

Findings

– The authors found that the complexity of HR managers’ roles, and expectations of their competencies, increases with an increasing level of internationalization of companies. Orientation to people and conflict resolution are seen as elementary competencies needed in all stages of internationalization. The key competence is seen to be strategic thinking that, according to CEOs and expatriates, goes hand in hand with cultural sensitivity, openness to change and a comprehensive understanding of the international environment and business processes.

Practical implications

– These results can potentially be used for assessing the HRM roles and competencies in different stages of company internationalization, especially MNCs operating in the ex-communist states of Europe, and will help HR managers to support expatriates, CEOs and other employees working in branches abroad more efficiently.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to the review and evaluation of the quite limited research on HR managers’ roles and competencies in MNCs. It focuses on MNCs and outward internationalization in the Central and Eastern European region. It contributes to studies of the HR managers’ roles and competencies and is the first study to establish a set of roles and competencies for HR managers in Slovenian MNCs.
Leadership, work stress and employee behavior
Authors: Yao Yan-Hong , Fan Ying-Ying , Guo Yong-Xing , Li Yuan
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore the influences of leadership and work stress on employee behavior, and the moderating effects of transactional and transformational leadership on the relationship between work stress and employee negative behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using convenience sampling method, the authors investigated employees from 20 firms in different places and industries, and 347 valid questionnaires were collected. SPSS18.0 statistical analysis software was used for reliability and validity analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypothesis.

Findings

– The empirical results show that there is a positive correlation between work stress and employee negative behavior. Transformational leadership has negative impacts on work stress and employee negative behavior, whereas transactional leadership has positive influences. Moreover, transactional leadership strengthens the influence of work stress on employee negative behavior, whereas transformational leadership has no moderating effect.

Practical implications

– First, enterprises should take employees’ stress tolerance into account in selection and recruitment, and enhance stress management. Second, by demonstrating inspirational vision and personal charisma, open leadership style, rather than short-term transactional behavior, will motivate subordinates more effectively. Finally, distribution system should be improved to achieve principle and procedural justice.

Originality/value

– The paper extends the research on employee behavior by investigating the impacts of leadership and work stress. According to Chinese social, economic and cultural characteristics, this research examines the influence of contemporary Chinese mindset and pluralistic values on employee behavior. Open leadership is proposed as a new leadership style, which contributes to improving leadership behavior and preventing negative behavior in workplace.
Analytical-numerical procedure incorporating cracking in RC beams
Authors: Patel K.A. , Chaudhary Sandeep , Nagpal A.K.
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop, for use in everyday design, a procedure that incorporates the effect of concrete cracking in reinforced concrete (RC) beams at service load and requires computational efforts which is a fraction of that required for the available methods. Further for ease of use in everyday design the reinforcement input data is minimized. The procedure has been demonstrated for continuous beams and is under development for tall building frames.

Design/methodology/approach

– The procedure is analytical at the element level and numerical at the structural level. A cracked span length beam element consisting of three cracked zones and two uncracked zones has been used. Closed form expressions for flexibility coefficients, end displacements, crack lengths, and mid-span deflection of the cracked span length beam element have been presented. In order to keep the procedure analytical at the element level, average tension stiffening characteristics are arrived at for cracked zones.

Findings

– The proposed procedure, at minimal computation effort and minimal reinforcement input data, yields results that are close to experimental and finite element method results.

Practical implications

– The procedure can be used in everyday design since it requires minimal computational effort and minimal reinforcement input data.

Originality/value

– A procedure that requires minimal computational effort and minimal reinforcement input data for incorporating concrete cracking effects in RC structures at service load has been developed for use in everyday design.
Numerical research on relationship between flow pattern transition and condensation heat transfer in microchannel
Authors: Sun Dongliang , Xu Jinliang , Ding Peng
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Based on the numerical research on the relationship between the flow pattern transition and the condensation heat transfer in circular microchannels, the purpose of this paper is to bring forward a concept of external separation circular microchannel to regulate and control the flow pattern for enhancing the condensation heat transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

– The numerical research is based on the volume of fluid method and the vapor-liquid phase change model proposed by the present authors.

Findings

– By numerical research on the condensation process of water in a general circular microchannel, it is discovered that, with the increase of the inlet velocity and the reduction of the temperature difference between the saturation temperature and the channel wall temperature, the bubble detachment frequency is raised and the water vapor condensation length is extended, representing an exponential growth. Therefore, for the condensation process with low temperature difference and high mass flow rate, it is in urgent need to regulate and control the flow pattern.

Originality/value

– To prevent the flow pattern in the general circular microchannel converted from annular flow to slug flow and then to bubble flow, this paper brings forward a concept of external separation circular microchannel, which regulates and controls the flow pattern by discharging partial liquid from the annular wall opening. After regulation and control, the flow pattern is converted from original periodic annular flow/slug flow/bubble flow to current stable annular flow. Accordingly, the heat transfer performance is enhanced and the condensation length is lowered remarkably.
Inter-generational transfer under Islamic perspective
Authors: Ghafar Ismail Abdul , Taufiq Possumah Bayu , Najib Abdul Kadir Mohd
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to examine the inter-generational transfer by not only looking at the monetary transfer as discussed by many economists and sociologists but also by advancing the conceptual discussion and illustrating it with some examples of empirical comparison.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper provides recent theoretical and empirical work on inter-generational transfer from the viewpoint of different systems and compares it to the Islamic view of inheritance.

Findings

– One finding of this paper is that the Islamic inheritance system is a socially and economically more comprehensive and broad framework than inter-generational transfers from another system.

Originality/value

– This paper is considered as an original approach to the framework of the Quranic basic source and Islamic literature regarding inter-generational transfer compared to another system.
Does the importance of hotel attributes differ for senior tourists?
Authors: Caber Meltem , Albayrak Tahir
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to identify the importance of hotel attributes for pre-senior and senior tourists when selecting a hotel.

Design/methodology/approach

– Three market segments (German, Dutch and British) were selected as the sample of the research. The Callan and Bowman’s (2000) scale was employed and data obtained from 13 five star hotels in Antalya, Turkey.

Findings

– Results of the study showed that “value for money” and “availability of organized entertainment in the hotel” were important attributes for senior British tourists when compared to other participants. Dutch senior tourists attached more importance to food service attributes (“small food portions” and “special dietary menus”) than did the other respondents.

Practical implications

– Research results confirmed the importance of staff attributes (“politeness of staff” and “friendliness of staff”) for customer satisfaction. This finding highlights the need for training programmes targeting hospitality employees, with a specific focus on meeting customers’ demands for receiving friendly and polite service.

Originality/value

– The present study intends to contribute to the literature on senior tourist market by identifying the importance of hotel attributes for three market segments (Germany, England and The Netherlands).
Breaching the urban contract
Authors: Charlesworth Esther , Fien John
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify practical lessons for urban managers involved in the post-disaster field, drawing on research about ethnic division, conflict and reconstruction in five divided cities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper analyses the original case study fieldwork in the five divided cities to identify how the concept of “urban contract” can be used to explain the impacts of different levels of resilience to conflict or disaster. It also examines the importance of rebuilding the urban contract for community resilience as the key to “building back better” in urban reconstruction.

Findings

– This analysis indicates three important lessons about the importance of the “urban contract” in building disaster resilience. The first is that disasters, like conflict, can be anticipated and strategies put in place to strengthen the social networks on which community resilience depends – and that such anticipatory behaviour provides the time to do this. The second finding is that dispersing people away from a damaged neighbourhood for any period but the absolute minimum necessary to ensure public health and community well-being should be avoided at all costs. The third finding relates to the importance of using skilled public consultation and engagement in physical reconstruction as a way of enhancing social reconstruction.

Originality/value

– This is the first paper to draw parallels between the impacts of conflict and disasters on the urban contract between city managers and citizens. As well as identifying key lessons for disaster resilience, the paper makes a strong theoretical contribution by pointing to the significance of the urban contract in wider studies of cities and disasters.
Some design aspects of sustainable post-disaster housing
Authors: Tucker Simon , Gamage Arosha , Wijeyesekera Chitral
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to discuss selected aspects of the design of post-disaster housing building on current guidance in this area. The paper focuses on the use of appropriate materials and technology to suit the climate and site and draws lessons from traditional housing types and settlement patterns.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case study of a design project is used to illustrate an approach toward sustainable design. The approach is structured and could therefore fit into the wider structures and frameworks of providing such housing.

Findings

– A design was generated that meets many of the desired environmental criteria. It was also found that important design resources are required by the design team not mentioned in the existing guidelines.

Research limitations/implications

– A limitation of the paper is that the design is hypothetical and there has been no input from prospective inhabitants or other groups.

Practical implications

– The design approach illustrated here may be of use to relief organizations working in the field and also could be used to develop further awareness of sustainability. Organizations that provide for and coordinate post-disaster construction could consider making further design resources available as part of a project.

Social implications

– The study addresses the design of housing, which itself is an activity located in society.

Originality/value

– The paper adds to the discussion on the design of post-disaster housing and supports the argument that such housing can help to support wider and longer-term development.
Dubai Shopping Festival: tourists’ nationality and travel motives
Authors: Peter Sangeeta , Anandkumar Victor
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Tourists differ in their needs, motives and activities but they can be described based on demographic characteristics, nationality being one of them. The purpose of this paper is to compare the different nationalities travelling to Dubai during the Dubai Shopping Festival on their travel motives.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected from 604 English-speaking tourists, using the mall intercept technique, during the XVIII edition of the shopping festival from January-February 2013.

Findings

– The study found that a total of 23 nationalities differed on their travel motives.

Research limitations/implications

– Only English-speaking tourists were included in the study.

Practical implications

– Tourists from different nationalities differ on their travel motives .The findings of this study will help the Destination Marketing Organisation in understanding the travel motives of the tourists which would help in developing products and market-specific destination promotion.

Originality/value

– Shopping festivals are being promoted by various destinations as a tourism product. Yet there is a lack of research literature on this topic. This empirical study on travel motives of international tourists visiting a shopping festival will be a worthy addition to the literature.
How customers respond to the assistive intent of an E-retailer?
Authors: Shobeiri Saeed , Mazaheri Ebrahim , Laroche Michel
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how an E-retailer's assistive intent impacts the perceptions and behaviours of online shoppers. The paper introduces a model that explains and examines the process through which the perceived assistive intent of an E-retailer leads to improved patronage intentions towards the web site.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey on the most recent e-purchase experiences of more than 600 individuals in North America was conducted. Structural equation modelling based on EQS 6.1 was used to assess the measurement and structural models.

Findings

– Results indicated that customers’ impressions of an E-retailer's assistive intent positively impact web site patronage intentions both directly and indirectly through two key constructs of e-shopping, including web site involvement and web site attitudes.

Research limitations/implications

– The student sample is not representative of the population. Students are familiar with internet and feel less need for assistance online. Another shortcoming might be its settings. Since the survey was on the respondents’ most recent online experiences, the data quality depends on the amount and accuracy of the information they could retrieve from memory.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest that E-retailers would highly benefit from investing in the development of an assistive image. To do so, E-retailers should leverage the interactive nature of the web and provide supportive tools that facilitate the e-shopping task of clients.

Social implications

– Developing impressions of the site's assistive intent is highly rewarding for E-retailers that are new to the business.

Originality/value

– This paper represents the first effort to link the newly developed construct of E-retailer's assistive intent to two fundamental variables of online shopping, including web site involvement and web site attitudes. This work would also be an extension of the past studies that call for further investigation of the link between customer orientation and customer's loyalty intentions.
The effect of adaptive mechanism on behavioural biometric based mobile phone authentication
Authors: Meng Weizhi , S. Wong Duncan , Kwok Lam-For
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to design a compact scheme of behavioural biometric-based user authentication, develop an adaptive mechanism that selects an appropriate classifier in an adaptive way and conduct a study to explore the effect of this mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

– As a study, the proposed adaptive mechanism was implemented using a cost-based metric, which enables mobile phones to adopt a less costly classifier in an adaptive way to build the user normal-behaviour model and detect behavioural anomalies.

Findings

– The user study with 50 participants indicates that our proposed mechanism can positively affect the authentication performance by maintaining the authentication accuracy at a relatively high and stable level.

Research limitations/implications

– The authentication accuracy can be further improved by incorporating other appropriate classifiers (e.g. neural networks) and considering other touch-gesture-related features (e.g. the speed of a touch).

Practical implications

– This work explores the effect of adaptive mechanism on behavioural biometric-based user authentication. The results should be of interest for software developers and security specialists in deciding whether to implement such a mechanism for enhancing authentication performance on mobile phones.

Originality/value

– The user study with 50 participants indicates that this mechanism can positively affect the authentication performance by maintaining the authentication accuracy at a relatively high and stable level. To the best of our knowledge, our work is an early work discussing the implementation of an adaptive mechanism on a mobile phone.
What is normal profit for power generation?
Authors: Simshauser Paul , Ariyaratnam Jude
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a multi-period dynamic power project financing model to produce pragmatic estimates of benchmark wholesale power prices based on the principles of normal profit. This, in turn, can guide policymakers as to whether price spikes or bidding above marginal cost in wholesale electricity markets warrants any investigation at all. One of the seemingly complex areas associated with energy-only wholesale electricity pools is at what point market power abuse is present on the supply side. It should not be this way. If a theoretically robust measure of normal profit exists, identification of potential market power abuse is straightforward. Such a definition readily exists and can be traced back to the ground-breaking work of financial economists in the 1960s.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a multi-period dynamic power project model, the authors produce pragmatic and theoretically robust measures of normal profit for project financed plant and plant financed on balance sheet. These model results are then integrated into a static partial equilibrium model of a power system. The model results are in turn used to guide policymaking on generator bidding in energy-only power markets.

Findings

– Under conditions of perfect plant availability and divisibility with no transmission constraints, energy-only markets result in clearing prices which are not economically viable in the long run. Bidding must, therefore, deviate from strict short-run marginal cost at some stage. To distinguish between quasi-contributions to substantial sunk costs and market power abuse, a pragmatic and robust measure of normal profit is required.

Originality/value

– This article finds policymakers can be guided by an ex-post analysis of base energy prices against pragmatic estimates for the long-run marginal cost of the base plant, and an ex-ante analysis of call option prices along the forward curve against pragmatic estimates of the carrying cost of the peaking plant.
Founder-CEO board involvement and optimal IPO valuation
Authors: Mousa Fariss-Terry , J. Ritchie William , Reed Richard
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to extend governance research in the small business context by examining the moderating influence of top executive involvement on the board of directors on market valuation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Drawing on a sample of initial public offering (IPO) high-tech firms engaged in late-stage funding, the study uses stepwise regression to test board involvement moderation effects.

Findings

– Primary market investors reward governance structures that limit founder power.

Originality/value

– The current study introduces the notion that optimal market valuation depends not only on whether a CEO-founder governs the firm, but also on level of involvement on the board of directors.
Netnography approach as a tool for marketing research: the case of Dash-P&G/TTV
Authors: La Rocca Antonella , Mandelli Andreina , Snehota Ivan
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Online communication technologies have profoundly affected consumption and buying behaviours, and put pressure on businesses to find ways of dealing with these developments. Businesses are increasingly experimenting with new approaches and tools to keep up, and netnography – ethnography applied to the web – has become popular. However, exploiting the potential of netnography requires companies to cope with new problems and acquire new capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the organizational and managerial implications of using the netnographic approach in market research.

Design/methodology/approach

– After a literature review on netnography in marketing research, the authors present a case study of best practice of netnography for market research: the research project of Dash-Procter & Gamble on Motherhood Support.

Findings

– The authors found four issues as critical for exploiting the potential of netnography as a tool of market research: first, immersive involvement; second, mediated participation; third, the use of multiple techniques and distributed specialized capabilities; and fourth, the need for orchestrating the emergent network organization of the project. The quality of the research outcomes is related to the resources available and the integration of different roles and competences in the project.

Research limitations/implications

– Since netnographic studies involve collaborative research, further studies of experiences in organizing netnography projects are needed. These studies are bound to yield valuable insights.

Practical implications

– Exploiting the potential of netnography implies experimenting with novel approaches and solutions in marketing research practices to orient management decisions and calls for developing skills to orchestrate research project networks.

Originality/value

– The value of this work lies in zooming in on the methodological principles of netnography and zooming out on the networking managerial processes that make it possible to implement the networking required to exploit the potential of netnography.
Does a differentiation strategy lead to more sustainable financial performance than a cost leadership strategy?
Authors: D. Banker Rajiv , Mashruwala Raj , Tripathy Arindam
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the strategic positioning of firms and the sustainability of firm performance. The paper argues that pursuing a differentiation strategy leads to more sustainable financial performance compared to following a cost leadership strategy. However, a differentiation strategy may also be associated with greater risk.

Design/methodology/approach

– To investigate the research questions, the authors utilize publicly available archival data consisting of 12,849 firm-year observations for the period 1989-2003. In the first stage of the analysis, factor analysis is used to determine firms’ strategic positioning. The resulting factor scores are subsequently used in regression analysis to investigate the sustainability of performance based on the strategic positioning of firms.

Findings

– The results indicate that both cost leadership and differentiation strategies have a positive impact on contemporaneous performance. However, the differentiation strategy allows a firm to sustain its current performance in the future to a greater extent than a cost leadership strategy. The differentiation strategy, though, is also associated with greater systematic risk and more unstable performance.

Originality/value

– Sustainability of performance refers to how much a firm's current profitability can be sustained in future periods. The main contribution of this study is the comparison of generic strategies based on the sustainability of firm performance. This aspect of the strategy-performance link has not been considered in prior work. Another contribution of the study is that it considers multiple dimensions of firm performance in order to evaluate the trade-offs involved with pursuing different strategies. In particular, the authors contribute to the literature by documenting that while differentiation leads to more sustainable earnings, it also leads to riskier and more unstable earnings.
Consumer willingness to communicate in a second language
Authors: Holmqvist Jonas , Van Vaerenbergh Yves , Grönroos Christian
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The service management literature emphasizes the importance of communication, but language difficulties can make communicating in business settings more difficult. The purpose of this paper is to address consumer willingness to communicate in a second language to identity the antecedents that drive consumer language preferences.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper presents the findings from two empirical studies in two multilingual countries with a total of 361 adult respondents.

Findings

– The findings show perceived control to be the strongest antecedent of consumer willingness to communicate in a second language, and identifies second language skills as an antecedent in countries with little political tensions related to language, while political considerations is a strong antecedent in countries where language use is political.

Research limitations/implications

– The studies are limited to countries with more than one official language. While multilingual countries make up around two-third of the world's population, future research could test whether the same antecedents are applicable in monolingual societies.

Practical implications

– The findings help managers to understand in which situations consumers may be willing to switch language, and in which situations it is important to serve consumers in more than one language.

Originality/value

– The paper is the first to draw upon both the service management literature and the sociolinguistic literature to develop and test a model to explain consumer language preferences. This model may help managers to develop strategies for customer service in multilingual markets.
How do resources and diversification strategy explain the performance consequences of internationalization?
Authors: Chen Yan , Jiang Yiwei , Wang Chengqi , Chung Hsu Wen
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how firm resources and diversification strategy explain the performance consequences of internationalization of emerging market enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper conducts a regression analysis by using a novel panel data set comprising of 685 listed Chinese firms over the period of 2008-2011.

Findings

– The results show that the relationship between internationalization and performance is inverse U-shaped. Further, marketing resources play a greater role in enhancing the performance effects of internationalization than technological resources do. Related product diversification enhances the performance effects, while unrelated product diversification does the contrary.

Research limitations/implications

– The study focusses on listed firms in one country, and as a result, the findings cannot be generalized to non-listed firms and firms in other countries.

Practical implications

– This paper offers guidelines for international managers to improve performance of internationalization by developing a particular type of resources and diversification strategy.

Originality/value

– This paper extends the literature on the functional form of the internationalization-performance relationship, and further suggests that the analysis of the performance consequences of internationalization should go beyond the nexus between internationalization and performance, and focusses on firm-specific resources and strategies that may facilitate or constrain the performance effects of internationalization.
The determinants of involuntary delisting rate in the Egyptian IPO equity market
Authors: M. Algebaly Esam-Aldin , Ibrahim Yusnidah , A. Ahmad-Zaluki Nurwati
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of involuntary delisting rate for the Egyptian initial public offerings (IPOs) issued over the period 1992-2009.

Design/methodology/approach

– A definition of survival time that considers the date when the new Egyptian listing rules were enforced to track delisting status for each IPO firm for five survival years is relied on. Binary logit regression analysis is used to identify these determinants. Total sample is divided into two subsamples: the first subsample covers the period from 1992 to 2004. It is used to estimate the logit equations and to predict delisting status of firms included in the second subsample, which covers the period from 2005 to 2009.

Findings

– The probability of involuntary delisting decreases significantly with the increase in firm size, institutional ownership, assets growth rate, operating efficiency, offering size, initial returns and insider ownership. However, it increases significantly in IPO firms with high financial leverage. Based on the estimated logit regression equations, the status of the six firms included in the second subsample are correctly predicted.

Practical implications

– The results provide several implications for investors, issuing firms and setters of listing rules.

Originality/value

– This study uses new variables, such as firm type, institutional ownership and listing variables. In addition, several theories are tested and supported.
Stepping into the emptiness
Authors: Kokkonen Juhana
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to analyze the personal challenges of a change agent, namely, a catalyst, attempting to promote organizational change in a hybrid and complex educational organization. The study mirrors subjective experiences with classic bureaucracy research and the theory of collaborative community. It analyzes the lack of work developmental scaffolds in the transition from a bureaucracy to a collaborative community.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses autoethnographic methods.

Findings

– A hybrid and complex context does not offer firm scaffolds for a change agent. Classic bureaucracy research and the theory of collaborative community have difficulties to explain the personal challenges of the change agent.

Research limitations/implications

– Research on weak or missing organizational scaffolding and transitional challenges should be studied using a multidisciplinary approach. The concepts of the zone of proximal development and scaffolding in a complex context should be revised.

Practical implications

– Hybrid and complex organizations should develop new ways to scaffold and manage their work development.

Originality/value

– This paper shows and analyzes the personal challenges of a change agent on a hybrid and complex organization. The autoethnographic approach gives important knowledge about the lack of theoretical explanation of the problematics of organizational transition.
Organizational learning culture and workplace spirituality
Authors: Sorakraikitikul Monthon , Siengthai Sununta
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of organizational learning culture as an enabler of knowledge-sharing behaviours and workplace spirituality. A model is proposed to examine the mediating role of knowledge-sharing behaviours between organizational learning culture and workplace spirituality.

Design/methodology/approach

– Employees from various Thai industries participated in the study, and structural equation modelling was used to test hypothesized relationships.

Findings

– Results suggest a positive relationship between organizational learning culture and workplace spirituality, partially mediated by knowledge-sharing behaviours.

Research limitations/implications

– The study was limited to Thailand, and is a cross-sectional design. Further investigation into the causality of relationships and cultural disparities is needed.

Practical implications

– Friendly learning environments enable both knowledge sharing and change organization members’ views regarding learning and performance improvements for organizational sustainability.

Originality/value

– This paper bridges a gap between theory and practice concerning the outcomes of organizational learning and factors that lead to workplace spirituality.
The influence of perceived organizational support on dimensions of learning organization
Authors: Salehzadeh Reza , Asadi Ali , Khazaei Pool Javad , Reza Ansari Mohammad , Haroni Alireza
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of perceived organizational support on dimensions of a learning organization among employees of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Nowshahr in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper used an empirical research design by the questionnaire survey method to test the research hypotheses. Statistical population of this research included employees of SMEs of Nowshahr in Iran. A random sample of 950 employees was asked to respond to questionnaires from which 336 were valid. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the influence of perceived organizational support on dimensions of a learning organization.

Findings

– The findings showed that perceived organizational support had a strong effect on the learning organization. In addition, perceived organizational support had effect on continuous learning, dialogue and inquiry, team learning, embedded system, empowerment, system connection and strategic leadership. In general, all hypotheses are statistically supported.

Originality/value

– This research may be one of the first papers exploring the influence of perceived organizational support on dimensions of the learning organization and offers a foundation for future organizational research.
Evolution of differential maternal age effects on male and female offspring development and longevity
Authors: Lind Martin I. , Berg Elena C. , Alavioon Ghazal , Maklakov Alexei A.
Published: June 2014

Maternal age effects on life‐history traits, including longevity, are widespread and can be seen as a manifestation of ageing. However, little is known about how maternal life span may influence the maternal age effect. At a given chronological age, a long‐lived parent may be at a younger biological age than a short‐lived parent and thus has a less severe parental age effect. However, earlier work using experimentally evolved short‐ and long‐lived lines did not support this hypothesis.

We scored developmental time and longevity of 14 995 individual seed beetles, Callosobruchus maculatus derived from replicate short‐lived and long‐lived lines created via artificial selection on male life span.

Offspring from older mothers had shorter life span, which is consistent with most of the literature.

We found support for the hypothesis that detrimental maternal age effects evolve to be weaker under selection for long life span. However, this finding was only apparent in males, suggesting that maternal age affects male and female offspring differently.

These results suggest that sex‐dependent parental age effects should be incorporated in the studies of longevity and ageing evolution and that selection on one sex can cause evolution of parental age effects in the other sex.
Foliar habit, tolerance to defoliation and their link to carbon and nitrogen storage
Authors: Piper Frida I. , Fajardo Alex
Published: June 2014

An innovative hypothesis to explain the higher carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage in woody tissues of winter deciduous species as compared to evergreen species is that these storages reflect an adaptation to tolerate herbivory. Support for this hypothesis has been little when manipulative defoliations were partial and/or applied in a single season. Given that repeated defoliations throughout a single season are common in temperate forests and tend to be more severe in deciduous than in evergreen species, we tested this hypothesis considering complete and recurrent defoliation in two sympatric Nothofagus species with contrasting foliar habit.

In the field, we applied three defoliation intensities for 3 years in naturally coexisting juvenile trees of Nothofagus betuloides (evergreen) and Nothofagus pumilio (deciduous). Defoliation intensities included complete defoliation (100%) twice during the growing season, partial defoliation (50%) twice during the whole experiment and no defoliation. We evaluated survival, regrowth and C‐ and N‐storage in the leaves, stems and roots of each tree.

Complete defoliation caused 100% mortality in N. betuloides after the first year and no mortality in N. pumilio after 3 years; it induced higher C reductions in N. pumilio roots, supported by greater C‐storage. Partial defoliation caused no interspecific differences in survival, though it produced a stronger decrease in C‐storage in N. betuloides than in N. pumilio. N concentrations in woody tissues were significantly higher in N. pumilio than in N. betuloides, and only in the former did they decrease with the defoliation intensity.

Synthesis. We found a potential functional link between leaf habit, defoliation tolerance and C‐ and N‐storage. The deciduous species tolerated complete and recurrent defoliations better than the evergreen species, which was associated with higher C‐ and N‐storage in stems and roots of the former. This link was not detected under partial defoliation. We suggest that the higher C‐ and N‐storage in the woody tissues of deciduous species as compared to evergreen species is an adaptation to tolerate complete and recurrent defoliations under which temperate winter deciduous species may have evolved.
Genomic comparison of chitinolytic enzyme systems from terrestrial and aquatic bacteria
Authors: Bai Yani , Eijsink Vincent G. H. , Kielak Anna M. , van Veen Johannes A. , de Boer Wietse
Published: June 2014

Chitin degradation ability is known for many aquatic and terrestrial bacterial species. However, differences in the composition of chitin resources between aquatic (mainly exoskeletons of crustaceans) and terrestrial (mainly fungal cell walls) habitats may have resulted in adaptation of chitinolytic enzyme systems to the prevalent resources. We screened publicly available terrestrial and aquatic chitinase‐containing bacterial genomes for possible differences in the composition of their chitinolytic enzyme systems. The results show significant differences between terrestrial and aquatic bacterial genomes in the modular composition of chitinases (i.e. presence of different types of carbohydrate binding modules). Terrestrial Actinobacteria appear to be best adapted to use a wide variety of chitin resources as they have the highest number of chitinase genes, the highest diversity of associated carbohydrate‐binding modules and the highest number of CBM33‐type lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases. Actinobacteria do also have the highest fraction of genomes containing β‐1, 3‐glucanases, enzymes that may reinforce the potential for degrading fungal cell walls. The fraction of bacterial chitinase‐containing genomes encoding polyketide synthases was much higher for terrestrial bacteria than for aquatic ones supporting the idea that the combined production of antibiotics and cell‐wall degrading chitinases can be an important strategy in antagonistic interactions with fungi.
Impact of metal pollution on fungal diversity and community structures
Authors: Op De Beeck Michiel , Lievens Bart , Busschaert Pieter , Rineau Francois , Smits Mark , Vangronsveld Jaco , Colpaert Jan V.
Published: June 2014

The impact of metal pollution on plant communities has been studied extensively in the past, but little is known about the effects of metal pollution on fungal communities that occur in metal‐polluted soils. Metal‐tolerant ecotypes of the ectomycorrhizal fungusSuillus luteusare frequently found in pioneer pine forests in the Campine region inBelgium on metal‐polluted soils. We hypothesized that metal pollution would play an important role in shaping below‐ground fungal communities that occur in these soils and thatSuillus luteuswould be a dominant player. To test these hypotheses, the fungal communities in a young pine plantation in soil polluted with zinc, and cadmium were studied using 454 amplicon pyrosequencing. Results show that zinc, cadmium and soil organic matter content were strongly correlated with the fungal community composition, but no effects on fungal diversity were observed. As hypothesized,S. luteuswas found to be a dominant member of the studied fungal communities. However, other dominant fungal species, such asSistotremasp.,Wilcoxina mikolaeandCadophora finlandicawere found as well. Their presence in metal‐polluted sites is discussed.