bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SorCS2 controls functional expression of amino acid transporter EAAT3 to protect neurons from oxidative stress and epilepsy-induced pathology
Authors: Malik Anna R. , Szydlowska Kinga , Nizinska Karolina , Asaro Antonino , van Vliet Erwin A. , Popp Oliver , Dittmar Gunnar , Nykjaer Anders , Lukasiuk Katarzyna , Aronica Eleonora , Willnow Thomas E.
Published: September 2018

The family of VPS10P domain receptors emerges as central regulator of intracellular protein sorting in neurons with relevance for various brain pathologies. Here, we identified a unique role for the family member SorCS2 in protection of neurons from oxidative stress and from epilepsy-induced cell death. We show that SorCS2 acts as sorting receptor that targets the neuronal amino acid transporter EAAT3 to the plasma membrane to facilitate import of cysteine, required for synthesis of the reactive oxygen species scavenger glutathione. Absence of SorCS2 activity causes aberrant transport of EAAT3 to lysosome for catabolism and impairs cysteine uptake. As a consequence, SorCS2-deficient mice exhibit oxidative brain damage that coincides with enhanced neuronal cell death and increased mortality during epilepsy. Our findings highlight a protective role for SorCS2 in neuronal stress response and provide an explanation for upregulation of the receptor seen in surviving neurons of the human epileptic brain.
Macaque anterior cingulate cortex deactivation impairs performance and alters lateral prefrontal oscillatory activities in a rule-switching task
Authors: Ma Liya , Chan Jason L. , Johnston Kevin , Lomber Stephen G. , Everling Stefan
Published: September 2018

In primates, both the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) are key regions of the frontoparietal cognitive control network. To study the role of the dACC and its communication with the dlPFC in cognitive control, we recorded the local field potentials from the dlPFC before and during the reversible deactivation of the dACC, in macaque monkeys engaging in uncued switches between two stimulus-response rules. Cryogenic dACC deactivation impaired response accuracy during rule-maintenance, but not rule-switching, which coincided with a reduction in the correct-error difference in dlPFC beta activities specifically during maintenance of the more challenging rule. During both rule switching and maintenance, dACC deactivation prolonged the animals’ reaction time and reduced task-related theta/alpha activities in the dlPFC; it also weakened dlPFC theta-gamma phase-amplitude modulation. Thus, the dACC and its interaction with the dlPFC plays a critical role in the maintenance of a new, challenging rule.
Fine-tuned adaptation of embryo-endometrium pairs at implantation revealed by gene regulatory networks Tailored conceptus-maternal communication at implantation
Authors: Biase Fernando H. , Hue Isabelle , Dickinson Sarah E. , Jaffrezic Florence , Laloe Denis , Lewin Harris , Sandra Olivier
Published: September 2018

Interactions between embryo and endometrium at implantation are critical for the progression and the issue of pregnancy. These reciprocal actions involve exchange of paracrine signals that govern implantation and placentation. However, it remains unknown how these interactions between the conceptus and the endometrium are coordinated at the level of an individual pregnancy. Under the hypothesis that gene expression of endometrium is dependent on gene expression of extraembryonic tissues, we performed an integrative analysis of transcriptome profiles of paired conceptuses and endometria obtained from pregnancies initiated by artificial insemination. We quantified strong dependence (|r|>0.95, eFDR<0.01) in transcript abundance of genes expressed in the extraembryonic tissues and genes expressed in the endometrium. The profiles of connectivity revealed distinct co-expression patterns of extraembryonic tissues with caruncular and intercaruncular areas of the endometrium. Notably, a subset of highly co-expressed genes between conceptus (n=229) and caruncular areas of the endometrium (n=218, r>0.9999, eFDR<0.001) revealed a blueprint of gene expression specific to each pregnancy. Functional analyses of genes co-expressed between conceptus and endometrium revealed significantly enriched functional modules with critical contribution for implantation and placentation, including “in utero embryonic development”, “placenta development” and “regulation of transcription”. Functional modules were remarkably specific to caruncular or intercaruncular areas of the endometrium. The quantitative and functional association between genes expressed in conceptus and endometrium emphasize a coordinated communication between these two entities in mammals. To our knowledge, we provide first evidence that implantation in mammalian pregnancy relies on the ability of the conceptus and the endometrium to develop a fine-tuned adaptive response characteristic of each pregnancy.
Genotypic context modulates fitness landscapes: Effects on the speed and direction of evolution for antimicrobial resistance
Authors: Ogbunugafor C. Brandon , Guerrero Rafael F. , Eppstein Margaret J.
Published: September 2018

Understanding the forces that drive the dynamics of adaptive evolution is a goal of many subfields within evolutionary biology. The fitness landscape analogy has served as a useful abstraction for addressing these topics across many systems, and recent treatments have revealed how different environments can frame the particulars of adaptive evolution by changing the topography of fitness landscapes. In this study, we examine how the larger, ambient genotypic context in which the fitness landscape being modeled is embedded affects fitness landscape topography and subsequent evolution. Using simulations on empirical fitness landscapes, we discover that genotypic context, defined by genetic variability in regions outside of the locus under study (in this case, an essential bacterial enzyme target of antibiotics), influences the speed and direction of evolution in several surprising ways. These findings have implications for how we study the evolution of drug resistance in nature, and for presumptions about how biological evolution might be expected to occur in genetically-modified organisms. More generally, the findings speak to theory surrounding how “difference can beget difference” in adaptive evolution: that small genetic differences between organisms can greatly alter the specifics of how evolution occurs, which can rapidly drive even slightly diverged populations further apart.

Author summary

Technological advances enable scientists to engineer individual mutations at specific sites within an organism’s genome with increasing ease. These breakthroughs have provided scientists with tools to study how different engineered mutations affect the function of a given gene or protein, yielding useful insight into genotype-phenotype mapping and evolution. In this study, we use engineered strains of bacteria to show how the dynamics (speed and direction) of evolution of drug resistance in an enzyme depends on the species-type of that bacterial enzyme, and on the presence/absence of mutations in other genes in the bacterial genome. These findings have broad implications for public health, genetic engineering, and theories of speciation. In the context of public health and biomedicine, our results suggest that future efforts in managing antimicrobial resistance must consider genetic makeup of different pathogen populations before predicting how resistance will occur, rather than assuming that the same resistance pathways will appear in different pathogen populations. With regard to broader theory in evolutionary biology, our results show how even small genetic differences between organisms can alter how future evolution occurs, potentially causing closely-related populations to quickly diverge.
Gata4 drives Hh-signaling for second heart field migration and outflow tract development
Authors: Liu Jielin , Cheng Henghui , Xiang Menglan , Zhou Lun , Zhang Ke , Moskowitz Ivan P. , Xie Linglin
Published: September 2018

Dominant mutations of Gata4, an essential cardiogenic transcription factor (TF), cause outflow tract (OFT) defects in both human and mouse. We investigated the molecular mechanism underlying this requirement. Gata4 happloinsufficiency in mice caused OFT defects including double outlet right ventricle (DORV) and conal ventricular septum defects (VSDs). We found that Gata4 is required within Hedgehog (Hh)-receiving second heart field (SHF) progenitors for normal OFT alignment. Increased Pten-mediated cell-cycle transition, rescued atrial septal defects but not OFT defects in Gata4 heterozygotes. SHF Hh-receiving cells failed to migrate properly into the proximal OFT cushion in Gata4 heterozygote embryos. We find that Hh signaling and Gata4 genetically interact for OFT development. Gata4 and Smo double heterozygotes displayed more severe OFT abnormalities including persistent truncus arteriosus (PTA) whereas restoration of Hedgehog signaling rescued OFT defects in Gata4-mutant mice. In addition, enhanced expression of the Gata6 was observed in the SHF of the Gata4 heterozygotes. These results suggested a SHF regulatory network comprising of Gata4, Gata6 and Hh-signaling for OFT development. This study indicates thatGata4potentiation of Hh signaling is a general feature ofGata4-mediated cardiac morphogenesis and provides a model for the molecular basis of CHD caused by dominant transcription factor mutations.

Author Summary

Gata4 is an important protein that controls the development of the heart. Human who possess a single copy of Gata4 mutation display congenital heart defects (CHD), including the double outlet right ventricle (DORV). DORV is an alignment problem in which both the Aorta and Pulmonary Artery originate from the right ventricle, instead of originating from the left and the right ventricles, respectively. To study how Gata4 mutation causes DORV, we used a Gata4 mutant mouse model, which displays DORV. We showed that Gata4 is required in the cardiac precursor cells for the normal alignment of the great arteries. Although Gata4 mutation inhibits the rapid increase in number of the cardiac precursor cells, rescuing this defects does not recover the normal alignment of the great arteries. In addition, there is a movement problem of the cardiac precursor cells when migrating toward the great arteries during development. We further showed that a specific molecular signaling, Hh-signaling, is responsible to the Gata4 action in the cardiac precursor cells. Importantly, over-activating the Hh-signaling rescues the DORV in the Gata4 mutant embryos. This study provides an explanation for the ontogeny of CHD.
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor regulates nucleolar activity and protein synthesis in MYC-expressing cells
Authors: Lafita-Navarro M. Carmen , Kim Min , Borenstein-Auerbach Nofit , Venkateswaran Niranjan , Hao Yi-Heng , Ray Roshni , Brabletz Thomas , Scaglioni Pier Paolo , Shay Jerry W. , Conacci-Sorrell Maralice
Published: September 2018

MYC enhances protein synthesis by regulating genes involved in ribosome biogenesis and protein translation. Here, we show that MYC-induced protein translation is mediated by the transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which is induced by MYC in colonic cells. AHR promotes protein synthesis by activating the transcription of genes required for ribosome biogenesis and protein translation, including OGFOD1 and NOLC1. Using surface sensing of translation (SUnSET) to measure global protein translation, we found that silencing AHR or its targets diminishes protein synthesis. Therefore, targeting AHR or its downstream pathways could provide a novel approach to limit biomass production in MYC-driven tumors.
Single-nucleus transcriptomic survey of cell diversity and functional maturation in postnatal mammalian hearts
Authors: Hu Peng , Liu Jian , Zhao Juanjuan , Wilkins Benjamin J. , Lupino Katherine , Wu Hao , Pei Liming
Published: September 2018

A fundamental challenge in understanding cardiac biology and disease is that the remarkable heterogeneity in cell type composition and functional states have not been well characterized at single-cell resolution in maturing and diseased mammalian hearts. Massively parallel single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful tool to address these questions by interrogating the transcriptome of tens of thousands of nuclei isolated from fresh or frozen tissues. snRNA-seq overcomes the technical challenge of isolating intact single cells from complex tissues, including the maturing mammalian hearts; reduces biased recovery of easily dissociated cell types; and minimizes aberrant gene expression during the whole-cell dissociation. Here we applied sNucDrop-seq, a droplet microfluidics-based massively parallel snRNA-seq method, to investigate the transcriptional landscape of postnatal maturing mouse hearts in both healthy and disease states. By profiling the transcriptome of nearly 20,000 nuclei, we identified major and rare cardiac cell types and revealed significant heterogeneity of cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells in postnatal developing hearts. When applied to a mouse model of pediatric mitochondrial cardiomyopathy, we uncovered profound cell type-specific modifications of the cardiac transcriptional landscape at single-nucleus resolution, including changes of subtype composition, maturation states, and functional remodeling of each cell type. Furthermore, we employed sNucDrop-seq to decipher the cardiac cell type-specific gene regulatory network (GRN) of GDF15, a heart-derived hormone and clinically important diagnostic biomarker of heart disease. Together, our results present a rich resource for studying cardiac biology and provide new insights into heart disease using an approach broadly applicable to many fields of biomedicine.
Differential leadership and organizational corruption in China
Authors: Tang Yanzhao , Zhan Xuemei , Chen Ken
Published: September 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effect of differential leadership on organizational corruption by developing a measure of organizational corruption and proposing a moderated mediation model. The model focuses on the mediating role of moral disengagement underpinning the relationship between differential leadership and organizational corruption, and the moderating role of organizational justice in influencing the mediation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected 210 responses from online participants with full time work experience and 57 MBA students answered the survey offline.

Findings

Results showed that differential leadership was positively associated with organizational corruption. Furthermore, moral disengagement fully mediated the relationship between differential leadership and organizational corruption. Besides, distributive justice negatively but procedural justice positively moderated the indirect effect of moral disengagement.

Research limitations/implications

Testing the moderated mediation model helps to advance the theoretical understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the effect of differential leadership on organizational corrupt behavior.

Originality/value

This empirical study provides preliminary evidence of the mediating role of moral disengagement in the positive relationship between differential leadership and organizational corruption. The mediated moderation also extends the finding by adding organizational justice as the moderator to explain how the effect of differential leadership on organizational corruption. Finally, this study provides initial evidence for organizational corruption measure.
Taj hotels, palaces and resorts: the road ahead
Authors: Sharma Anuj , Kochher Parul
Published: September 2018

Subject Area

General Management, International Strategic Management, International Marketing and Brand Management.

Study level/applicability

MBA (General Management), MBA (Marketing), Management and executive development programme.

Case overview

The Indian Hotels Corporation limited known as the Taj Group was set up by JRD Tata in 1903. The company has undertaken a long journey since then. It is one of the most recognized hotel brands in luxury market segment of the hotel industry. Off late some micro- and macro-level changes in the business environment have not been in favor of the group. The strategy of international expansion in acquiring and refurbishing of assets has mounted the debt and the growing losses. What has compounded the growing troubles is the entry of aggressive multinational brands in the luxury segment of the hospitality industry. The group prioritizes to get its financials in order. It thereafter needs to rework on its competitive strategy and take advantage of the booming domestic hotel industry for profitable future growth.

Expected learning outcomes

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the impact of expansions on the top line and the bottom line on the hospitality industry; to understand the impact of expansion on brand image for the legacy brand; to understand and develop strategies for a company which make it profitable in the hotel industry; and to formulate entry and exit strategies for companies dealing in the hospitality industry.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS: 11: Strategy.
UNASCO: exploring the market for sustainable business
Authors: Abdulla Al Marzooqi Fawzeia , Zamberi Ahmad Syed
Published: September 2018

Subject area

Growth strategies, marketing strategy, resources-based value theory, alliance network model, logistic and supply chain.

Study level/applicability

This case can be used in undergraduate and graduate classes as well as development programmes for managers in small to medium-size enterprises. The case suits courses in business, strategy, marketing and freight forwarding.

Case overview

Union National Air, Land and Sea Shipping Co (LLC) (UNASCO) is a small to medium-sized freight forwarding company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It has three offices, two in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. UNASCO handles commercial imports/exports from/to many destinations, including Europe, Asia, the USA, India, the Far East, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Middle East (ME) and Africa. UNASCO has been in business for more than 35 years and has run the business smoothly. Recently, the company has faced several internal and external challenges that impact business performance. These challenges are high operating expenses, stiff competition and low market demand. Due to these challenges, the sales staff is being pressured to generate more income to ensure that the company is not experiencing a loss. Now, UNASCO is uncertain how to sustain the business.

Expected learning outcomes

The learning outcomes are as follows: to learn about the freight forwarding industry, the competitive landscape and the challenges surrounding it; to enable the participant to generate a list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) for UNASCO and to gain skill at using SWOT analysis; to increase the participant’s ability to evaluate a situation and effectively communicate remedies about it both in writing and verbally; to enable the participant to analyse a problem using the Fishbone Diagram cause and effect tool; to enable the participant to use the Six Thinking Hats technique to make more reliable and sounder decisions; to gain skill at using Porters Five Forces tool, understand the competitiveness of UNASCO’s business environment, and identify the potential for business growth; and to gain skills at developing a marketing strategy using the 4Ps model.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS 11: Strategy.
Analysing the features of negative sentiment tweets
Authors: Zhang Ling , Dong Wei , Mu Xiangming
Published: September 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to address the challenge of analysing the features of negative sentiment tweets. The method adopted in this paper elucidates the classification of social network documents and paves the way for sentiment analysis of tweets in further research.

Design/methodology/approach

This study classifies negative tweets and analyses their features.

Findings

Through negative tweet content analysis, tweets are divided into ten topics. Many related words and negative words were found. Some indicators of negative word use could reflect the degree to which users release negative emotions: part of speech, the density and frequency of negative words and negative word distribution. Furthermore, the distribution of negative words obeys Zipf’s law.

Research limitations/implications

This study manually analysed only a small sample of negative tweets.

Practical implications

The research explored how many categories of negative sentiment tweets there are on Twitter. Related words are helpful to construct an ontology of tweets, which helps people with information retrieval in a fixed research area. The analysis of extracted negative words determined the features of negative tweets, which is useful to detect the polarity of tweets by machine learning method.

Originality/value

The research provides an initial exploration of a negative document classification method and classifies the negative tweets into ten topics. By analysing the features of negative tweets, related words, negative words, the density of negative words, etc. are presented. This work is the first step to extend Plutchik’s emotion wheel theory into social media data analysis by constructing filed specific thesauri, referred to as local sentimental thesauri.
The impact of law, religion, and culture on the ease of starting a business
Authors: Haggard Dana L. , Haggard K. Stephen
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of culture, legal origin and religion on four measures of the ease of starting a new business; the number of procedures required, the number days required, the ease of getting credit and the cost to start a business.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use linear regression to test the hypotheses using publicly available data on legal origin and religion from La Porta et al. (1999), cultural dimension information from Hofstede (2009) and measures of the ease of starting a business from the World Bank’s (2017) Doing Business Initiative. The final sample consists of 71 countries for which information was available on all the variables of interest.

Findings

Legal origin affects the number of procedures and the length of time needed to start a business, as well as the ease of getting credit. Culture (power distance) and religion are important for explaining gender differences in the ease of starting a business. The cost of starting a business is unrelated to culture, legal origin or religion.

Originality/value

Economic development is an important determinant of a country’s political stability and standard of living. Although politicians play a significant role in how a friendly a country is toward business, the study demonstrates that other longer-term and less dynamic factors have a material influence on economic development.
Transformational leadership and positive work outcomes
Authors: Nandedkar Ankur , Brown Roger S.
Published: September 2018

Purpose

A significant amount of research has examined the relationship between transformational leadership and positive follower outcomes such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and task performance. Building on the social exchange theory and referent cognitions theory, this paper explores the propositions that transformational leadership, OCB and task performance relationship are mediated by leader member exchange (LMX) and distributive justice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying mechanism that has a potential to influence the transformational leadership and follower outcomes relationship. The authors also discuss the implications for management theory and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary goal of the research is theory building, so the paper is using a conceptual research design.

Findings

The authors find the assumption that the supervisors evaluate the performance of their employees and the performance evaluation has a strong influence on the allocation of rewards to be reasonable. Despite being reasonable, in some circumstances, the rewards allocation maybe dictated by upper management or the HR department; thus, the authors will need to gather a few more details in the survey to address this limitation.

Originality/value

This study presents a research model which emphasizes on the role of LMX and distributive justice in the linkage of transformational leadership and positive work outcomes. More specifically, the authors argue that follower outcomes such as OCB and task performance are a result of not only the high-quality LMX between transformational leaders and followers but also the distributive justice perceptions of followers.
Effect of load on the tribological properties of Si3N4-hBN composite ceramics sliding against Si3N4
Authors: Gao Dong Qiang , Wang Rui , Chen Wei
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The effect of the load on the tribological properties of Si3N4-hBN sliding against Si3N4 were investigated under dry and water lubrication condition.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a MMU-5G type pin-on-disc friction and wear tester.

Findings

Under the dry friction, the wear mechanism was dominated by ploughing and abrasive wear, and the contact status was elastic contact under the load less than 25 N. With the increase of the load, the friction coefficient decreased; the main wear mechanism was fatigue fracture, and the contact status turned into plastic contact. Under water lubrication, effective lubrication film could be produced on the worn surface, and it had a function of fluid lubrication under the load less than 15 N. With the increase of the load, the pin and the disc came into direct contact, and the friction and wear of the pairs were aggravated; the wear mechanism changed from chemical wear into abrasive wear and brittle spalling.

Originality/value

The study on the effect of the load on the tribological properties of Si3N4-hBN sliding against Si3N4 was investigated under dry and water lubrication condition in the way of contact stress.
Tribological behaviour of WC-10Co4Cr coated slurry pipe materials
Authors: Kumar Kaushal , Kumar Satish , Gupta Munish , Garg Hem Chander
Published: September 2018

Purpose

This paper aims at erosion wear experimentation conducted on two piping materials, namely SS202 and SS304 to establish the effect of rotational speed, concentration and time period.

Design/methodology/approach

Erosion wear because of slurry flow is investigated using a slurry erosion pot tester. Fly ash is taken as erodent material having different solid concentrations lie in range 30 to 60per cent (by weight). Experiments are performed at four different speeds, i.e. 600; 900; 1,200; and 1,500 rpm for time duration of 90, 120, 150 and 180 min, respectively. To enhance erosion wear resistance of both piping materials, high-velocity-oxy-fuel coating technique is used to deposit WC-10Co4Cr coating. The parametric influence of erosion wear is optimized using Taguchi method.

Findings

The results show that significant improvement in erosion wear resistance is observed by deposition of WC-10Co4Cr coating. It is observed that rotational speed is found as highly influencing parameter followed by concentration and time duration. Parametric investigation of erosion wear is helpful to develop a procedure for minimizing the erosion wear in pipeline for the flow of solid-liquid mixture.

Originality/value

Slurry erosion wear of WC-10Co4Cr coated stainless steel (SS202 and SS304) is substantiated by extensive microstructural analysis and optimization technique.
Branding effectiveness measurement in non-profit environment
Authors: Garg Ebha , Swami Sanjeev , Malhotra Sunita Kumari
Published: September 2018

Purpose

Literature suggests that branding effectiveness measures are present in for-profit sectors but lacks such comprehensive measures for the non-profit sector. Moreover, most of the branding effectiveness measures are either based on brand image approach or on brand identity approach. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to propose an integrated branding effectiveness measurement metrics for non-profit organizations (NPOs).

Design/methodology/approach

Judgmental and simple random sampling techniques are used for data collection. The final sample comprises 150 respondents including donors, volunteers, beneficiaries and media who were administered interview schedules. Based on the ratings given by the respondents regarding branding effectiveness parameters of the five NPOs of a major city in Northern India, branding effectiveness score of each NPO is computed. The branding measures adopted by NPOs rated high are selected in the proposed brand effectiveness metrics.

Findings

The proposed metrics encapsulates brand identity parameters such as management profile, vision, culture, as well as brand image parameters such as brand awareness, brand understanding, brand association of the stakeholders, etc. The metrics also link the two through brand performance parameters.

Research limitations/implications

Multiple hierarchical structures of government infested with bureaucracy and lack of specialized staff with focused approach have reduced the effectiveness of their socio-development programs in emerging economies. This has led to an increase in number, diversity and impact of NPOs that compete for resource generation. Branding is a powerful tool for NPOs not only for resource generation but also for driving the social goals. The branding effectiveness metrics would help NPO managers reinforce the internal identity by increasing the cohesion and the capacity of the organization as well as create a strong brand image by garnering the support of multiple stakeholders through mutual trust thereby creating a greater social impact.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of the study stems from the fact that the proposed branding effectiveness measurement metrics in non-profit environment encapsulates brand image, brand identity and brand performance parameters.
Industrial marketing research: a bibliometric analysis (1990-2015)
Authors: Valenzuela Fernandez Leslier Maureen , Nicolas Carolina , Merigó José M. , Arroyo-Cañada Francisco-Javier
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the most influential countries and universities that have contributed to science in the field of industrial marketing research during the period from 1990 to 2015.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric methodology is adopted, focusing on the most productive and influential countries and universities within this discipline, for the scientific community analyzing journals listed in the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1990 to 2015 and is supplemented by using VOS viewer to graph the existing bibliometric networks for each and every variable.

Findings

Evidence that the USA and UK remain leaders in the investigation of industrial marketing research. Finland stands at the third place, leaving Australia and Germany behind. In reference to the universities, Michigan State University ranks as the leader.

Research limitations/implications

The process of data classification originates from WoS. Moreover, to provide a comprehensive analytical scenario, other factors could have potentially been considered such as the editor’s commitment to leading journals, to partnerships and conferences, as well as other databases.

Originality/value

This paper takes into account alternative variables that have not been previously considered in previous studies, such as universities and countries in which the transcendental contributions to this field have taken place, providing a closer look, which gives rise to further discussions and studies with more detail to the history of this science in the future.
Revealing business customers’ hidden value formation in service
Authors: Strandvik Tore , Heinonen Kristina , Vollmer Sanna
Published: September 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to identify how, in contrast to a provider-oriented stance where customer value is conceptualised as being controlled by the provider, customer value is formed for business customers beyond what is visible to the provider.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper builds on the primacy of the customer. Customer-dominant logic (CDL) is used as the conceptual underpinning, meaning that the customer, rather than the service provider or the service system, is at the centre. A case study was conducted with seven key users from three customer companies of an information and communications technology (ICT) provider of in-house services. The study used a micro-social level focus by capturing customers’ experiences of those activities where value in use is formed.

Findings

The findings indicate that value formation is not related only to direct service interactions and furthermore substantially takes place beyond a service provider’s visibility line. Hence, value formation is in large part hidden for the service provider because it is embedded in customers’ activities and experiences.

Research limitations/implications

Although the study is limited to one case concerning ICT services, these findings may apply to other service businesses, in particular to knowledge-intensive outsourcing businesses.

Practical implications

Understanding a customer’s value formation from the customer’s point of view is the key to service development for any business service provider.

Originality/value

Applying a CDL approach, the authors deepen the understanding of customer value formation as it emerges in customer activities. The study provides detailed insight into business customers’ value formation processes. The study’s findings challenge the current emphasis on interactions and co-creation and instead demonstrate the importance of understanding customer logics and contexts.
Effects of organizational learning on performance: the moderating roles of trust in leaders and organizational justice
Authors: Oh Seok-Young
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify how organizational learning processes influence perceived organizational performance and examine the moderating roles of organizational justice and trust in managers therein.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops a theoretical model to exhibit how knowledge acquisition and transfer activities influence perceived organizational performance. Data were collected from 515 respondents and analyzed by PROCESS macro for SPSS.

Findings

This study found that feedback learning flows are strongly mediated between learning stocks and organizational performance. It also found that organizational justice moderates the effect of learning stocks on organizational performance through feed-forward learning flows, while trust in manager moderates the effect of learning stocks on organizational performance through feedback learning flows.

Research limitations/implications

This study has a limitation in which it uses self-report data to measure all constructs. The objective measure may be necessary for future study.

Practical implications

The implications of this study are twofold. First, it finds that the higher organizational justice, the better the transfer of knowledge from the bottom up. When firms need to explore new knowledge, fairness in procedure and the distribution system is critical. Second, the higher the trust in management, the better the transfer of knowledge from the top down. The role of managers is instrumental in persuading employees and disseminating knowledge.

Originality/value

Combining functionalist and critical perspectives and developing a theoretical model, this study contributes to the understanding of how trust and justice facilitate learning activities within organizations.
The double-edged effects of perceived knowledge hiding: empirical evidence from the sales context
Authors: Wang Yonggui , Han Myat Su , Xiang Diandian , Hampson Daniel Peter
Published: September 2018

Purpose

Despite managers’ investments in facilitating knowledge sharing, knowledge hiding remains prevalent in organizations. Existing studies shed light on the antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding from the hider’s perspective. This study, the first, aims to examine the consequences of perceived knowledge hiding on the performance of knowledge seekers individually and organizations more broadly.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop a theoretical framework, drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) and social exchange theory (SET). The framework is tested empirically via hierarchical regression analyses, using survey data collected from salespersons (n= 296) and supervisors (n= 83) employed by one of the largest distribution and market expansion companies in Myanmar.

Findings

Consistent with SDT, the results show that perceived knowledge hiding exerts a positive effect on knowledge seekers’ individual sales performance, although this relationship is moderated by social interaction. Conversely, the results show a negative relationship between perceived knowledge hiding and team viability, which is moderated by reward structure, consistent with SET.

Research limitations/implications

The results have several strategic implications, including on the type of reward structures (i.e. individual vs team-based) that most effectively mitigate the negative consequences of perceived knowledge hiding.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study of the consequences of perceived knowledge hiding. This model integrates two theoretical perspectives which highlight positive and negative consequences of perceived knowledge hiding.
Secrets and knowledge management strategy: the role of secrecy appropriation mechanisms in realizing value from firm innovations
Authors: Hannah David , Parent Michael , Pitt Leyland , Berthon Pierre
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore in depth the mechanisms that organizations use to keep their innovations secret. This paper examines how, when and why secrecy appropriation mechanisms (SAMs) can enable innovators to appropriate value from their innovations.

Design/methodology/approach

Building from an extensive literature review of innovation and secrecy, the paper presents a number of implications for theory and research in the form of testable propositions.

Findings

This conceptualization proposes that SAMs can have both positive and negative effects on a number of organizational dynamics. SAMs involve tradeoffs, and the key to understanding whether they create value to organizations lies in understanding that these tradeoffs exist and the nature of these tradeoffs.

Practical implications

While most managers recognize the importance of secrecy in innovations, many struggle with the practical challenges of doing so. The paper presents guidance for managers to overcome these challenges.

Originality/value

This paper adds to previous research that has identified secrecy as an important appropriation mechanism for firms by digging deeper into the details of SAMs and exploring their sources, characteristics and effects.
Bi-objective optimization for sustainable supply chain network design in omnichannel
Authors: Yadav Vinay Surendra , Tripathi Sarsij , Singh A.R.
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a sustainable supply chain network (SCN) for omnichannel environment in order to provide better service to customers through flexible distribution. Thus, there is a need to incorporate multiple-channel distribution in the network design of supply chains (SCs).

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple-channel distribution supply chain network (MCDSCN) has been proposed under omnichannel environment. This proposed model integrates online giants with local retailer’s distribution network in an uncertain environment with sustainability. To incorporate sustainability, an objective function is added to reduce carbon content along with other objectives of minimization of SC cost. The model turns out to be mixed-integer linear programming model which is coded in GAMS and solved using CPLEX solver.

Findings

The proposed MCDSCN model is compared with conventional SCN. Furthermore, it was found that the proposed MCDSCN model has achieved significant saving in SC cost and is also more sustainable than conventional SCN. The proposed model also enables online giants to integrate their distribution network with local retailer’s distribution network.

Practical implications

Through proposed model, customers are free to access product and services as per their choice of channels which increases their convenience, reach and satisfaction.

Originality/value

The proposed MCDSCN model is a novel approach to design flexible distribution systems. This would significantly help organizations to design their distribution network more effectively to meet global competition.
Development and validation of an executive training and development-type taxonomy
Authors: Leeds J. Peter , Roach Krystal N. , Burtnick Scott K. , Moody Holly M.
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a taxonomy useful for classifying the training activity preference patterns adopted by executives and for describing how these patterns relate to important workplace measures. Although many organizations hold that well-trained and developed leaders are important for organizational success, little is known about the patterns of self-developmental activities that such leaders choose to initiate and how such training impacts organizational outcomes. Understanding these patterns may be useful in characterizing leaders in terms of training interest and showing a relation between executive training and valued organizational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 4,624 senior executives who completed a training activity and attitude survey, cluster analysis was used to derive a five-type training and development (T&D) taxonomy. Types varied by training activity pattern/attitudes and the proportion of well-trained and less-well-trained executives in each agency were described. The researchers collected an independent sample of employee perceptions of engagement and leader effectiveness and number of equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints within each agency.

Findings

Organizations with higher concentrations of well-trained/developed leaders tend to have employees with more favorable workplace attitudes and higher regard for senior leaders and generate smaller proportions of EEO complaints.

Research limitations/implications

Data were collected from 2011 and 2012, government leaders were sampled, and outcome analyses were conducted at the agency level rather than at the individual level.

Practical implications

A link between leader training and organizational outcome is useful for promoting and justifying such training to stakeholders.

Social implications

Characterizing leaders by training pattern will be useful in examining training usage/interest and in crafting programs tailored to leaders of different patterns.

Originality/value

An executive training pattern taxonomy is unique in the literature and evidence linking such training to outcome is rare.
When TM strategy is not self-evident
Authors: Naulleau Mickael
Published: September 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the talent management (TM) and talentship literature by exploring the key organizational conditions required to design a sustainable TM strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The author carried out a one-year action research with the management board of a mid-sized French company that sought to implement a TM strategy. Immersion in the phenomenon studied allowed inductive exploration of a TM strategy design from the outset of its formulation and conceptualization. Data were collected from observations, interviews and focus groups with different stakeholders (management board, managers and employees) involved in TM strategy project, and were analyzed from a congruence model to interpret a posteriori the key organizational issues affecting TM strategy.

Findings

The findings highlight the need to go beyond simple TM alignment to business strategy, as talentship asserts. They offer an overview of key organizational issues influencing TM strategy: organizational inputs such as environment, history and identity, along with organizational components such as critical tasks, people, structure, management and culture and their mutual influences and dynamics. The lack of congruence among these key organizational factors hinders the ability to conceptualize, formulate and design TM strategy successfully.

Research limitations/implications

Due to its exploratory nature and the fact that it consists of a single case, this study encourages further contributions to the TM and talentship literature on organizational issues affecting TM strategy in other contexts. It also suggests a complementary approach with the decision-making literature to explore the conceptualization stage and the influences of managers involved in TM strategy more deeply.

Practical implications

The paper suggests an organizational diagnosis on organizational conditions and capabilities for designing TM strategy based on congruence analysis used in this case. It also proposes in addition to the talentship approach and congruence analysis, when key organizational conditions are met, a five-step process for guiding managers in making sounder decisions during TM strategy conceptualization.

Originality/value

The paper sheds light on key organizational conditions required to design TM strategy that have been overlooked in the TM and talentship literature. It thus questions the apparent practicability of TM strategy in any organizational context.