bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Educational Technologies: Impact on Learning and Frustration
Authors: Hove M. Christina , Corcoran Kevin J.
Published: April 2008

Educators are increasingly using educational technologies at the postsecondary level although little research has investigated the effects of such technologies on learning. Our research explored the effects of traditional lecture, slide-show-supplemented lecture, and virtual learning environment (VLE) on learning and frustration among college students. Participants in slide-show-supplemented lecture and VLE conditions demonstrated more learning than participants in the traditional lecture conditions. However, participants in the VLE conditions reported significantly higher levels of frustration relative to those in the traditional lecture and slide-show-supplemented conditions. Our findings may be particularly relevant in light of the increasing numbers of online college degree programs that use VLE platforms. We discuss additional implications and future research.
Learning Factors in the University Classroom: Faculty and Student Perspectives
Authors: Lammers William J. , Smith Shelia M.
Published: April 2008

We examined faculty and student perspectives on variables relating to the instructor, student, and physical environment that affect student learning. Tenured faculty members and university students enrolled in upper level courses completed a questionnaire evaluating their perceptions of variables important to student learning. Overall, faculty and students had similar perspectives regarding factors important to student learning, emphasizing foremost the importance of the instructor. Students were more likely to rate characteristics of themselves as important to learning, although faculty placed more emphasis on student characteristics of motivation, attention level, and attitude toward learning. Faculty and students also differed with regard to the optimal learning conditions for several specific variables.
Wikipedia and Psychology: Coverage of Concepts and Its Use by Undergraduate Students
Authors: Schweitzer N. J.
Published: April 2008

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia is a frequently referred- to source of information for Internet users. A series of 3 studies examined Wikipedia's coverage of psychology-related concepts, examined how accessible Wikipedia's psychology content is when using Internet search engines, and described how both first-year and senior undergraduates use Wikipedia. The results demonstrated that Wikipedia's coverage of psychological topics was comprehensive and prominently displayed on the major search engines. In addition, a majority of undergraduate students reported referring to Wikipedia for both personal and school-related activities; however, few students reported using Wikipedia as a formal reference in academic work.
On Social Psychology and Human Nature: An Interview with Roy Baumeister
Authors: Lawrence Natalie Kerr
Published: April 2008

Roy F. Baumeister currently holds the Eppes Eminent Professorship in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University. He received his PhD in social psychology from Princeton in 1978 working under Edward E. Jones. After a postdoctoral fellowship in sociology at Berkeley, he spent 23 years on the faculty at Case Western Reserve University, where he held the Elsie Smith Professorship in the Liberal Arts. He also held visiting positions at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Max-Planck-Institute in Munich, Germany. He has taught social psychology, personality, sexuality, and interdisciplinary psychology. He has over 300 publications including 18 books. His new textbook, Social Psychology and Human Nature, is soon to be published.

Natalie Kerr Lawrence is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at James Madison University, where she teaches general psychology, statistics, research methods, and social psychology. She is an active member of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology; her research interests focus on the teaching (and learning) of psychology. She is currently studying factors that enhance students' self-efficacy.
Fast grid layout algorithm for biological networks with sweep calculation
Authors: Kojima Kaname , Nagasaki Masao , Miyano Satoru
Published: April 2008

Motivation: Properly drawn biological networks are of great help in the comprehension of their characteristics. The quality of the layouts for retrieved biological networks is critical for pathway databases. However, since it is unrealistic to manually draw biological networks for every retrieval, automatic drawing algorithms are essential. Grid layout algorithms handle various biological properties such as aligning vertices having the same attributes and complicated positional constraints according to their subcellular localizations; thus, they succeed in providing biologically comprehensible layouts. However, existing grid layout algorithms are not suitable for real-time drawing, which is one of requisites for applications to pathway databases, due to their high-computational cost. In addition, they do not consider edge directions and their resulting layouts lack traceability for biochemical reactions and gene regulations, which are the most important features in biological networks.

Results: We devise a new calculation method termed sweep calculation and reduce the time complexity of the current grid layout algorithms through its encoding and decoding processes. We conduct practical experiments by using 95 pathway models of various sizes from TRANSPATH and show that our new grid layout algorithm is much faster than existing grid layout algorithms. For the cost function, we introduce a new component that penalizes undesirable edge directions to avoid the lack of traceability in pathways due to the differences in direction between in-edges and out-edges of each vertex.

Availability: Java implementations of our layout algorithms are available in Cell Illustrator.

Contact:  masao@ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
“You know we are not an Employment Agency”: Manpower, Government, and the Development of the Temporary Help Industry in Britain
Authors: Forde Chris
Published: April 2008

This article looks at the early development of the temporary help industry in Britain. It focuses on the activities of one of the largest suppliers of temporary workers, Manpower, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Drawing on material from The UK National Archives, the article examines Manpower's efforts to gain access as a genuine employer to the state employment exchange network to advertise their temporary vacancies. The article reveals the incremental changes in attitude within the government towards Manpower's activities and argues that this gave the company a competitive advantage over other employment agencies, facilitating their development of relations with the government and the trade unions in Britain over the 1970s and 1980s. The main conclusion of the article is that explicit attention needs to be paid to the actions and strategies of agencies themselves in order to develop an adequate understanding of the growth and development of the temporary help industry.
Clinical Holistic Medicine: Avoiding the Freudian Trap of Sexual Transference and Countertransference in Psychodynamic Therapy
Authors: Ventegodt Søren , Kandel Isack , Merrick Joav
Published: April 2008

Sexual transference and countertransference can make therapy slow and inefficient when libidinous gratification becomes more important for both the patient and the therapist than real therapeutic progress. Sexual transference is normal when working with a patient's repressed sexuality, but the therapeutic rule of not touching often hinders the integration of sexual traumas, as this needs physical holding. So the patient is often left with sexual, Oedipal energies projected onto the therapist as an “idealized father” figure. The strong and lasting sexual desire for the therapist without any healing taking place can prolong therapy for many years, as it often does in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. We call this problem “Freud's Trap”. Freud used intimate bodywork, such as massage, in the beginning of his career, but stopped, presumably for moral and political reasons. In the tradition of psychoanalysis, touch is therefore not allowed. Recent research in clinical holistic medicine (CHM), salutogenesis, and sexual healing has shown that touch and bodywork (an integral part of medicine since Hippocrates) are as important for healing as conversational therapy. CHM allows the patient to regress spontaneously to early sexual and emotional traumas, and to heal the deep wounds on body, soul, and sexual character from arrested psychosexual development. CHM treats sexuality in therapy more as the patient’s internal affair (i.e., energy work) and less as a thing going on between the patient and the therapist (i.e., transference). This accelerates healing, and reduces sexual transference and the need for mourning at the end of therapy.
Referral Criteria from Community Clinics to Pediatric Emergency Departments
Authors: Urkin Jacob , Segal Ilan , Barak Nurit , Press Joseph
Published: April 2008

Referral of patients to a pediatric emergency department (PED) should be medically justified and the need for referral well communicated. The objectives of this paper were (1) to create a list of criteria for referral from the community to the PED, (2) to describe how community physicians categorize their need for referral, and (3) to determine agreement between the physician's referral letter and the selected criteria. We present a descriptive study of referrals to the PED of Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel, during February to April 2003. A list of 22 criteria for referral was created, using the Delphi method for reaching consensus. One or more criteria could be selected from this list for each referral, by the referring community physicians and, independently, based on the physicians' referral letters, by two consultants, and compared. There were 140 referrals included in the study. A total of 262 criteria for referral were selected by the referring community physicians. The criteria most frequently selected were: “Need for same-day consultation/laboratory/imaging result not available in the community” (32.1%), “Suspected life- or organ-threatening infection” (16.4%), and “Need for hospitalization” (15.7%). Rates of agreement regarding criteria for referral between the referring physicians and the two consultants, and a senior community pediatrician and a senior PED pediatrician, were 57.9 and 48.6%, respectively. We conclude that the standard referral letter does not convey in full the level of need for referral to the PED. A list of criteria for referral could augment efficient utilization of emergency department services and improve communication between community physicians and the PED.
Cardiovascular Activities of of the bradykinin system
Authors: Sharma Jagdish N.
Published: April 2008

All the components of the kallikrein-kinin system are located in the cardiac muscle andits deficiency may lead to cardiac dysfunction. In recent years, numerous observationsobtained from clinical and experimental models of diabetes, hypertension, cardiacfailure, ischemia, myocardial infarction, and left ventricular hypertrophy have suggestedthat the reduced activity of the local kallikrein-kinin system may be instrumental for theinduction of cardiovascular-related diseases. The cardioprotective property of theangiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors is primarily mediated via a kinin-releasingpathway, which may cause regression of the left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensivesituations. The ability of kallikrein gene delivery to produce a wide spectrum of beneficialeffects makes it a promising candidate in treating hypertension and cardiovascular andrenal diseases. In addition, stable kinin agonists may also be available in the future astherapeutic agents for cardiovascular and renal disorders. However, there are alsopossibilities of adverse effects that may be caused by these compounds.
Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) Measures: There are Still Many Unanswered Questions about Human Life
Authors: Owolabi Mayowa Ojo
Published: April 2008

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures are used to assess the multifaceted impact of disease, and determine the utility and associated disability. In addition, the impact of medical interventions must be assessed by psychometrically robust HRQOL measures based on a comprehensive and dynamic model. To develop such a model, the concepts of life, its quality, domains, essence, and purpose must be properly and clearly understood. The correct understanding of these entities is specifically important for patient-centered medicine and has universal implications for all fields of human endeavor. Therefore, in order to explore questions about life and quality of life adequately, every necessary field of knowledge should be employed. A multilinguistic and etymological appraisal reveals that life is related to medicine, freedom, being, soul, and spirit, all of which must therefore be considered in its conceptualization.
Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging in Diagnosis of Superficial and Invasive Urinary Bladder Carcinoma: A Preliminary Prospective Study
Authors: El-Assmy Ahmed , Abou-El-Ghar Mohamed E. , Refaie Huda F. , El-Diasty Tarek
Published: April 2008

We conducted a prospective study to demonstrate the feasibility of using diffusionweighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the detection of urinary bladder carcinomas. Between January to June 2007, 43 patients with single bladder tumor were included in our study. Before taking a biopsy, DW MRI was obtained in the axial plane under free breathing scanning with a multisection, spin-echo type, single-shot echo planar sequence with a body coil. Moreover, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value was measured in a circular region of interest within the carcinoma, urine, normal bladder wall, prostate, and seminal vesicle. All carcinomas in the 43 patients were clearly shown as high signal intensity relative to the surrounding structure. The sensitivity and positive predictive values of DW MRI were 100% in terms of correctly detecting the carcinomas. The ADC value in the carcinoma (1.40 ± 0.51) was significantly lower compared with that of urine (3.50 ± 0.43) (p< 0.001), normal bladder wall (2.29 ± 0.78) (p< 0.001), peripheral zone of prostate (1.77 ± 0.44) (p< 0.05), transition zone of prostate (1.88 ± 0.54) (p< 0.05), and the seminal vesicle (2.12 ± 0.43) (p< 0.001). There was no statistical difference in ADC values between different histological subtypes. There was no overlap between the ADC values of the tumors and the urine, but there was no clear cutoff between the tumor and bladder wall, prostate, or seminal vesicles. Bladder carcinomas have significantly lower ADC when compared to surroundings. Clinical experience with this method is still preliminary and further studies are required.
Transcript Profiling Reveals New Insights into the Acclimation of the Mesophilic Fresh-Water CyanobacteriumSynechococcus elongatusPCC 7942 to Iron Starvation
Authors: Nodop Anke , Pietsch Daniel , Höcker Ralf , Becker Anke , Pistorius Elfriede K. , Forchhammer Karl , Michel Klaus-Peter
Published: April 2008

The regulatory network for acclimation of the obligate photoautotrophic fresh water cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 to iron (Fe) limitation was studied by transcript profiling with an oligonucleotide whole genome DNA microarray. Six regions on the chromosome with several Fe-regulated genes each were identified. The irpAB and fut region encode putative Fe uptake systems, the suf region participates in [Fe-sulfur] cluster assembly under oxidative stress and Fe limitation, the isiAB region encodes CP43′ and flavodoxin, the idiCB region encodes the NuoE-like electron transport associated protein IdiC and the transcriptional activator IdiB, and the ackA/pgam region encodes an acetate kinase and a phosphoglycerate mutase. We also investigated the response of two S. elongatus PCC 7942 mutants to Fe starvation. These were mutant K10, lacking IdiB but containing IdiC, and mutant MuD, representing a idiC-merodiploid mutant with a strongly reduced amount of IdiC as well as IdiB. The absence of IdiB in mutant K10 or the strongly reduced amount of IdiB in mutant MuD allowed for the identification of additional members of the Fe-responsive IdiB regulon. Besides idiA and the irpAB operon somB(1), somA(2), ftr1, ackA, pgam, and nat also seem to be regulated by IdiB. In addition to the reduced amount of IdiB in MuD, the low concentration of IdiC may be responsible for a number of additional changes in the abundance of mainly photosynthesis-related transcripts as compared to the wild type and mutant K10. This fact may explain why it has been impossible to obtain a fully segregated IdiC-free mutant, whereas it was possible to obtain a fully segregated IdiB-free mutant.
The Absence of ALTERNATIVE OXIDASE1a in Arabidopsis Results in Acute Sensitivity to Combined Light and Drought Stress
Authors: Giraud Estelle , Ho Lois H.M. , Clifton Rachel , Carroll Adam , Estavillo Gonzalo , Tan Yew-Foon , Howell Katharine A. , Ivanova Aneta , Pogson Barry J. , Millar A. Harvey , Whelan James
Published: April 2008

Treatment of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) alternative oxidase1a (aox1a) mutant plants with moderate light under drought conditions resulted in a phenotypic difference compared with ecotype Columbia (Col-0), as evidenced by a 10-fold increase in the accumulation of anthocyanins in leaves, alterations in photosynthetic efficiency, and increased superoxide radical and reduced root growth at the early stages of seedling growth. Analysis of metabolite profiles revealed significant changes upon treatment in aox1a plants typical of combined stress treatments, and these were less pronounced or absent in Col-0 plants. These changes were accompanied by alteration in the abundance of a variety of transcripts during the stress treatment, providing a molecular fingerprint for the stress-induced phenotype of aox1a plants. Transcripts encoding proteins involved in the synthesis of anthocyanins, transcription factors, chloroplastic and mitochondrial components, cell wall synthesis, and sucrose and starch metabolism changed, indicating that effects were not confined to mitochondria, where the AOX1a protein is located. Microarray and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that transcripts typically induced upon stress treatment or involved in antioxidant defense systems, especially chloroplast-located antioxidant defense components, had altered basal levels in untreated aox1a plants, suggesting a significant change in the basal equilibrium of signaling pathways that regulate these components. Taken together, these results indicate that aox1a plants have a greatly altered stress response even when mitochondria or the mitochondrial electron transport chain are not the primary target of the stress and that AOX1a plays a broad role in determining the normal redox balance in the cell.
The Structure of Sucrose Phosphate Synthase from Halothermothrix orenii Reveals Its Mechanism of Action and Binding Mode
Authors: Chua Teck Khiang , Bujnicki Janusz M. , Tan Tien-Chye , Huynh Frederick , Patel Bharat K. , Sivaraman J.
Published: April 2008

Sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) catalyzes the transfer of a glycosyl group from an activated donor sugar, such as uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-Glc), to a saccharide acceptor d-fructose 6-phosphate (F6P), resulting in the formation of UDP and d-sucrose-6′-phosphate (S6P). This is a central regulatory process in the production of sucrose in plants, cyanobacteria, and proteobacteria. Here, we report the crystal structure of SPS from the nonphotosynthetic bacterium Halothermothrix orenii and its complexes with the substrate F6P and the product S6P. SPS has two distinct Rossmann-fold domains with a large substrate binding cleft at the interdomain interface. Structures of two complexes show that both the substrate F6P and the product S6P bind to the A-domain of SPS. Based on comparative analysis of the SPS structure with other related enzymes, the donor substrate, nucleotide diphosphate glucose, binds to the B-domain of SPS. Furthermore, we propose a mechanism of catalysis by H. orenii SPS. Our findings indicate that SPS from H. orenii may represent a valid model for the catalytic domain of plant SPSs and thus may provide useful insight into the reaction mechanism of the plant enzyme.
Arabidopsis SCARs Function Interchangeably to Meet Actin-Related Protein 2/3 Activation Thresholds during Morphogenesis
Authors: Zhang Chunhua , Mallery Eileen L. , Schlueter Jessica , Huang Shanjin , Fan Youran , Brankle Steven , Staiger Christopher J. , Szymanski Daniel B.
Published: April 2008

During polarized growth and tissue morphogenesis, cells must reorganize their cytoplasm and change shape in response to growth signals. Dynamic polymerization of actin filaments is one cellular component of polarized growth, and the actin-related protein 2/3 (ARP2/3) complex is an important actin filament nucleator in plants. ARP2/3 alone is inactive, and the Arabidopsis thaliana WAVE complex translates Rho-family small GTPase signals into an ARP2/3 activation response. The SCAR subunit of the WAVE complex is the primary activator of ARP2/3, and plant and vertebrate SCARs are encoded by a small gene family. However, it is unclear if SCAR isoforms function interchangeably or if they have unique properties that customize WAVE complex functions. We used the Arabidopsis distorted group mutants and an integrated analysis of SCAR gene and protein functions to address this question directly. Genetic results indicate that each of the four SCARs functions in the context of the WAVE-ARP2/3 pathway and together they define the lone mechanism for ARP2/3 activation. Genetic interactions among the scar mutants and transgene complementation studies show that the activators function interchangeably to meet the threshold for ARP2/3 activation in the cell. Interestingly, double, triple, and quadruple mutant analyses indicate that individual SCAR genes vary in their relative importance depending on the cell type, tissue, or organ that is analyzed. Differences among SCARs in mRNA levels and the biochemical efficiency of ARP2/3 activation may explain the functional contributions of individual genes.
Dissecting the Molecular Basis of the Regulation of Wood Formation by Auxin in Hybrid Aspen
Authors: Nilsson Jeanette , Karlberg Anna , Antti Henrik , Lopez-Vernaza Manuel , Mellerowicz Ewa , Perrot-Rechenmann Catherine , Sandberg Göran , Bhalerao Rishikesh P.
Published: April 2008

Indole acetic acid (auxin) is a key regulator of wood formation, and an observed overlap between auxin concentration gradient and developing secondary xylem cells has led to the hypothesis that auxin regulates wood formation by acting as a morphogen. We dissected the role of auxin in wood formation by identifying the auxin-responsive transcriptome in wood-forming tissues and investigating alterations in wood formation in transgenic hybrid aspen plants (Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides) with perturbed auxin signaling. We showed that auxin-responsive genes in wood-forming tissues respond dynamically to changes in cellular auxin levels. However, the expression patterns of most of the auxin-responsive genes displayed limited correlation with the auxin concentration across this developmental zone. Perturbing auxin signaling by reducing auxin responsiveness reduced the cambial cell division activity, caused spatial deregulation of cell division of the cambial initials, and led to reductions in not only radial but also axial dimensions of fibers and vessels. We propose that, instead of acting as a morphogen, changes in auxin concentration in developing secondary xylem cells may provide important regulatory cues that modulate the expression of a few key regulators; these, in turn, may control the global gene expression patterns that are essential for normal secondary xylem development.
Distinct Light-Initiated Gene Expression and Cell Cycle Programs in the Shoot Apex and Cotyledons ofArabidopsis
Authors: López-Juez Enrique , Dillon Edyta , Magyar Zoltán , Khan Safina , Hazeldine Saul , de Jager Sarah M. , Murray James A.H. , Beemster Gerrit T.S. , Bögre László , Shanahan Hugh
Published: April 2008

In darkness, shoot apex growth is repressed, but it becomes rapidly activated by light. We show that phytochromes and cryptochromes play largely redundant roles in this derepression in Arabidopsis thaliana. We examined the light activation of transcriptional changes in a finely resolved time course, comparing the shoot apex (meristem and leaf primordia) and the cotyledon and found >5700 differentially expressed genes. Early events specific to the shoot apices included the repression of genes for Really Interesting New Gene finger proteins and basic domain/leucine zipper and basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. The downregulation of auxin and ethylene and the upregulation of cytokinin and gibberellin hormonal responses were also characteristic of shoot apices. In the apex, genes involved in ribosome biogenesis and protein translation were rapidly and synchronously induced, simultaneously with cell proliferation genes, preceding visible organ growth. Subsequently, the activation of signaling genes and transcriptional signatures of cell wall expansion, turgor generation, and plastid biogenesis were apparent. Furthermore, light regulates the forms and protein levels of two transcription factors with opposing functions in cell proliferation, E2FB and E2FC, through the Constitutively Photomorphogenic1 (COP1), COP9-Signalosome5, and Deetiolated1 light signaling molecules. These data provide the basis for reconstruction of the regulatory networks for light-regulated meristem, leaf, and cotyledon development.
Virtual team working: making it happen
Authors: Morris Stephen
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The paper seeks to discuss virtual working, technology utilisation and how technology can be used to enhance human interaction rather than replace it. It is often the fabric of virtual human relationships that remains sadly neglected. This viewpoint paper aims to stimulate a more comprehensive debate about how to work effectively with and through others in our virtual world.

Design/methodology/approach

Working closely with global corporations, the author studied both permanent and project‐based virtual teams. Through observation and diagnostics, a comparison of the effectiveness of these teams was made against that of traditional co‐located teams.

Findings

Many businesses attempt to treat virtual working in the same way as co‐located working. The human impact and implications of virtual working are not fully understood or dealt with. The cultural retention of practices and policies that are relevant to co‐located traditional work but often counter‐productive for virtual working can result in tensions, conflicts and the ultimate disengagement of the workforce.

Practical implications

This paper offers a sample of the pragmatic tips and approaches the author's organizations brings to its clients. The most practical outcome of reading this paper is the recognition that virtual working has some subtle and key differences that need to be understood and managed by all those involved.

Originality/value

This paper is intended to be thought‐provoking for executive leaders, leaders, human resource professionals, change management agents and – most importantly – members of virtual teams.
A best practice approach to learning compliance management in regulated industries
Authors: Ambrose Jordan
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The paper seeks to outline the increasing requirements for demonstrating that training has taken place within regulated industries and to examine how a learning management system can meet the most stringent requirements of best practice in this field.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a review of regulated industries' requirements, especially 21 CFR Part 11.

Findings

Increasingly, regulated industries require companies to keep comprehensive records of training. The data and reports showing compliance with regulatory needs must be robust and come from an unimpeachable source. While manual record keeping can be easily flawed, electronic record keeping is not foolproof either – although one system now meets the requirements of the most stringent (US‐based) regulations.

Originality/value

This paper examines the growing requirements placed upon and the responsibilities of HR/training directors in regulated industries, and suggests a best practice method of providing tamper‐proof training records.
Achieving luxury status through delivering a culture of uncompromising quality
Authors: Mathieson Morag , Blair Julia
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to share the learning gained from the experiences of The Glenmorangie Company in driving a step change in quality awareness within the business.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is taken in terms of raising standards in the organisation through a competency training and development programme, using a top‐down approach to deliver against stretching business targets.

Findings

The approach used at The Glenmorangie Company echoes the findings documented in the CIPD research paper “Managing change: the role of the psychological contract”.

Practical implications

When considering embarking on any programme requiring a step change in business performance where a change in culture is vital, this approach will enable you to optimise its success, gain employee support to ensure sustainability and improve both employee and business performance.

Originality/value

This case study will be of value to all those involved in improving business performance, providing a clear, structured approach to the process of building effective learning interventions based on a clear understanding of the need to change.
The potential of the frontline manager
Authors: Rabey Gordon
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The paper seeks to create an awareness that by adopting the designation of frontline manager the position should now be demonstrating a more significant contribution from merely supervising work to a wider concern for organisational effectiveness and productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper considers ways by which benefit and gains might be achieved by greater voluntary input from the workforce, thereby achieving better cost‐cutting results.

Findings

The main finding is the realisation of the latent value of natural teams if their involvement is encouraged and recognised.

Originality/value

The latent value of natural teams exists and can be encouraged.
Getting members on board: democratic issues in union merger negotiations
Authors: Baraldi Stephan , Sverke Magnus , Chaison Gary
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine a failed union merger attempt from a democratic perspective. Although it is estimated that a majority of planned union mergers are never completed, the existing literature is unsuccessful in explaining why it is so. Stressing the importance for merging unions to keep their members informed and participative in the merger process, we highlight two democratic aspects of merger implementation: information anchoring (i.e. the spreading of merger relevant information throughout the membership), and participatory union climate (i.e. the extent to which union leaders provide members with opportunities to participate in union activities and decision making). The act of voting for or against a merger proposal can be regarded as a manifestation of democratic aspects in the internal negotiation process. Thus, members' intention to vote for or against the merger proposal was also analyzed.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires were sent to 1,000 members of each of the four participating unions. The survey investigated how many members knew of the merger negotiations, if they would have voted for or against the proposal, and also measured perceptions of the participatory union climate. Discrepancies between representatives and rank‐and‐file members were analyzed, with any significant differences between the two groups interpreted as indicative of the merger process lacking in internal democracy.

Findings

The results show that the merger plans were not sufficiently anchored among the membership and that there were significant differences between representatives and rank‐and‐file members in terms of merger plan awareness, vote intention, and perceptions of participatory union climate.

Research limitations/implications

The present study is based on cross‐sectional data collected after the planned merger was rejected.

Originality/value

Few studies have investigated the internal merger negotiation process using an unsuccessful merger attempt as a study case. Also, the need for psychological approaches in IR has long been called for. The present study meets both of these criteria.
Targets, strategies, and topics of deception among part‐time workers
Authors: Payne Holly J.
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the targets, strategies, and topics of deception employed in the workplace among part‐time service workers.

Design/methodology/approach

A taxonomy of deception strategies is used to content analyze 259 narrative accounts of part‐time student employees over two work shifts using Cohen's kappa to measure interrater reliability. Chi‐square analysis is used to determine significant differences between deception strategies and deception targets.

Findings

Employees overwhelmingly concealed information and lied primarily to supervisors and customers. Employees deceived in order to cover or protect emotions, evade work, cover mistakes or policy violations, and mislead customers in order to increase sales, commission, or gratuities.

Research limitations/implications

Determining the most salient strategies employed becomes clearer if the deception account describes or reveals the employee's motivation to deceive. Future research should consider motivation of the deceiver and might compare the deception strategies of part‐time and full‐time employees of varying levels of skill, organizational commitment, and role conflict.

Practical implications

This study provides rich examples of the ethically compromising situations in which young workers find themselves, discusses the impact of workplace structures on deception and the importance of socializing young workers on honest organizational practices.

Originality/value

As young workers enter the workforce they are confronted with opportunities to deceive and they do so for a wide variety of reasons. Little work has been done within the organizational context investigating the most common deception strategies employed or the contextual factors influencing the use of deception among full‐time employees much less young, part‐time employees.
The cross‐cultural adjustment experiences of self‐initiated repatriates to the Republic of Ireland labour market
Authors: Begley Annette , Collings David G. , Scullion Hugh
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the self‐initiated repatriation experience of native professionals as they return to the labour market in the Republic of Ireland of their own volition and without the support of an employer.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed methodology was employed to gather the data. In total, 40 responses were received from an initial open solicitation calling for research participants. Following a short survey receiving 34 responses, individuals who had returned without the aid of an employer to the Republic of Ireland and were willing to participate in further research were invited to participate in either a focus group discussion or in‐depth individual interviews. Ultimately, there were seven participants in the focus group and eleven individual in‐depth interviews.

Findings

The study found that the experiences of those in this study returning of their own volition and those of the more traditional repatriate do not seem to differ significantly across the facets of adjustment relating to adjustment in the general home country environment and adjustment to home country nationals, although subtle variations may be found. The main differences may be found when one investigates the facet of adjustment to work. Given that those returning of their own initiative are not returning to a position within a parent company, they must seek out their own employment. This adds a further source of stress and upheaval to an already difficult repatriation process.

Research limitations/implications

This is an exploratory study and hence requires further empirical verification. Nonetheless the study provides some useful signposts for future study in the area.

Originality/value

This research is unique in that it bridges a significant lacuna in the existing international human resource management literature by concentrating on the self‐initiated repatriation experience (SRE). This research is all the more important given that increasing numbers of individuals have returned to Ireland to seek work at their own discretion with the advent of the Celtic Tiger.
Senior managers' perceptions of the practice of human resource management
Authors: Maxwell Gillian , Farquharson Lois
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the perceptions of senior managers in companies in the Sunday Times list of UK best employers on the practice of HRM in their organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken was to conduct semi‐structured interviews with senior line and HR directors/ managers.

Findings

In the organisations investigated, HRM is afforded high‐level organisational support at chief executive, if not always senior operational manager, level. It is generally recognised by senior managers as contributing to business effectiveness when it centres on business needs. It is integrated with business strategy processes at both strategic and operational levels. Indeed HRM is elemental to business strategic planning processes, which has the effect of reducing the potential gap between strategic rhetoric on HRM and practical implementation of HRM. Leadership and performance management are current HR policy priorities.

Research limitations/implications

The generative primary data represent senior managers' perceptions of how HRM operates in their organisation therefore cannot be generalised.

Practical implications

Senior manager support of HRM means focusing HRM efforts in organisations on business needs and integration between HRM and business strategy processes. The corollary is that HRM policy priorities are derived from the strategic business direction and that they are perceived to support business operations and, consequently, business performance.

Originality/ value

Senior line managers and HR specialists inform the research which contributes to understanding of current, best practice HRM from an evidence base; a model of contemporary best practice is proposed.
A supply network configuration perspective on international supply chain development
Authors: Singh Srai Jagjit , Gregory Mike
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of configuration on supply network capability. It was believed that a configuration perspective might provide new insights on the capability and performance of supply networks, a gap in the literature, and provide a basis for the development of tools to aid their analysis and design.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology involved the development of a configuration definition and mapping approach extending established strategic and firm level constructs to the network operational level. The resulting tools were tested and refined in a series of case studies across a range of sectors and value chain models. Supply network capability assessments, from the perspective of the focal firm, were then compared with their configuration profiles.

Findings

The configuration mapping tools were found to give new insights into the structure of supply networks and allow comparisons to be made across sectors and business models through the use of consistent and quantitative methods and common presentation. They provide the foundations for linking configuration to capability and performance, and contribute to supply network design and development by highlighting the intrinsic capabilities associated with different configurations.

Research limitations/implications

Although multiple case networks have been investigated, the configuration exemplars remain suggestive models. The research suggests that a re‐evaluation of operational process excellence models is needed, where the link between process maturity and performance may require a configuration context.

Practical implications

Advantages of particular configurations have been identified with implications for supply network development and industrial policy.

Originality/value

The paper seeks to develop established strategic management configuration concepts to the analysis and design of supply networks by providing a robust operational definition of supply network configuration and novel tools for their mapping and assessment.
A continuing lean journey: an electronic manufacturer's adopting of Kanban
Authors: Lee‐Mortimer Andrew
Published: April 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the introduction of Kanban production control, at a UK‐based electronic product‐manufacturing operation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper covers key implementation issues, including cultural factors, the reasons behind the adoption of an electronic Kanban system, and explains in detail the working and benefits gained from the changes introduced.

Findings

Learning lessons from its previous lean implementation experiences, the company's adoption of Kanban was phased, and the final stage of gradually building up the parts under the control of the electronic Kanban was combined with broad involvement, widespread training and the addressing of cultural issues. This “pull” system has delivered the expected dramatic reductions in lead times and inventory but, having used Kanban to gain increased internal stability, the company is now planning to extend the system externally. Interestingly, to make this work, it will require the replacement of Kanban control in some internal areas of the plant with push control in the form of direct replenishment.

Originality/value

The paper clearly shows how effective the progressive introduction of aspects of lean can be in terms of delivering long‐term business benefits. It also confirms the importance of recognizing that even well organized businesses are liable to suffer pain when implementing lean. It is critically important not to blame the new system, but to find the real causes, and this requires understanding and training. Finally, in addition to explaining how the plant's new system operates, and observing some of the finer details of the electronic Kanban system, the paper looks at the interesting planned steps in the system's “evolution”.
Car manufacturer uses novel laser scanner to reduce time to production
Authors: Bogue Robert
Published: April 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to describe a new optical geometrical inspection technique and its applications by Volvo Cars.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the limitations of contact probe‐based coordinate measurement machines scanning, describes a new, laser‐based 3D geometrical scanning system developed jointly by Metris and Volvo, Ghent, and considers its applications and benefits.

Findings

This shows that the 3D laser scanning system offers significant operational benefits over the conventional, contact probe‐based approach to geometrical inspection. It has been shown by Volvo to reduce the roll‐out time of an entire vehicle assembly process by up to ten weeks.

Originality/value

This paper shows how the joint development and deployment of a laser‐based 3D scanning system has speeded up and improved the geometrical inspection of car components and finished vehicles.
Direct input and output system: another secret underlying Fanuc's unmanned factory
Authors: Kusuda Yoshihiro
Published: April 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to describe the fundamental concept of Fanuc's 720 h unattended continuous manufacturing system. It pays special attention to the material‐handling system, direct input‐output system (DIO system) created by Tetsuro Mori, Seibu Electric, Japan, that is the integral part of the unmanned factory besides intelligent robots. Also it refers to the origin of the term “mechatronics” – how Tetsuro Mori coined it.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an interview with Tetsuro Mori, the report describes how he conceived the system and how Fanuc employed the concept throughout its production facilities.

Findings

The DIO strategy not only will be beneficial for the big corporations like Fanuc, but also it will be useful for smaller enterprises.

Originality/value

Although many reports were published on Fanuc's unattended manufacturing system they only talk about the intelligent robots and apparently forget to mention the role of the unique concept of the material‐handling system that made the unmanned operation possible. The report elaborates the secret of the system. Also, probably, the report is the first one outside Japan that discloses how the term “mechatronics” was born.
Evolvable assembly systems: coping with variations through evolution
Authors: Semere D. , Onori M. , Maffei A. , Adamietz R.
Published: April 2008

Purpose

The main features of evolvable systems include distributed control, a modularized, intelligent and open architecture, a comprehensive and multi‐dimensional methodological support that comprises the reference architecture. Furthermore, integration of legacy subsystems and modules has been addressed in the methodology. This paper aims to present the latest developments, applications and conclusions drawn to date.

Design/methodology/approach

Evolvable assembly system is a new methodology in itself, and is currently being applied within several European projects. Evolvable assembly goes beyond reconfigurability and offers continuous evolution of the system.

Findings

The work has been, and is being, implemented through large European research projects. Evolvability, being a system concept, is envisaged addressing every aspect of an assembly system throughout its life cycle, i.e. design and development, operation and evolution.

Research limitations/implications

This paper presents the latest developments, applications and conclusions drawn to date.

Originality/value

The paper presents the methodology and the latest application of it, which is industrial. This is the first application that offers self‐configuration of the equipment.