bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Revisiting technology-organization-environment (T-O-E) theory for enriched applicability
Authors: Awa Hart O. , Ukoha Ojiabo , Igwe Sunny R.
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to propose and test a ten-factor framework of four contexts from technology-organization-environment (T-O-E) theory and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to provide insight(s) that complements and extends extant inquiries on technology adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from small service enterprises with strong operations in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and the mode of sampling was purposive and snow ball, whereas analysis involved structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that factors in the technological, organizational and environmental contexts have direct statistically significant relationship with adoption; thus, adoption is more driven by T-O-E factors than by individual factors. For individual context, social factor equally was statistically supported, whereas hedonistic drive was not.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited by its scope of data collection and phases; therefore, extended data are needed to apply the findings to other sectors/industries/countries and to factor in the implementation and post-adoption phases and business to business (B2B) adoption to forge a more holistic framework.

Practical/implications

Implicit is that the findings encourage vendors and policy makers to recognize the strength of interpersonal and group relationships in addition to T-O-E contexts in developing investment decisions.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the growing research on innovation adoption by using factors within the T-O-E and UTAUT frameworks to explain SMEs’ adoption of technologies.
Improving logistics processes of surgical instruments: case of RFID technology
Authors: Moatari-Kazerouni Afrooz , Bendavid Ygal
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Since mid-2000s, hospitals have begun implementing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in order to improve their operations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of RFID technology in improving the traceability of surgical instruments in a hospital environment.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study is conducted at a teaching hospital in Montreal, Canada. Business process reengineering approach and simulation techniques are used to assess the realistic potential of the RFID technology. The application of different scenarios and how they influence the efficiency of process flow between the central sterilization department and operating rooms of the hospital is investigated.

Findings

Research outcomes demonstrated how tagging individual instruments or their sets lead to reduction of the time spent in re-processing the soiled instrument as well as the reduction of costs related to staff. Furthermore, specific key performance indicators are identified and eventual issues related to implementation of the re-designed processes are discussed.

Originality/value

Implementing RFID-enabled solutions in hospital context is still an emerging phenomenon that involves various stakeholders in a change management project. While implementing RFID technology can benefit hospitals by improving business processes and workflows, the adoption is still slow, especially for managing surgical instruments. It is, hence, crucial to compare the advantages and drawbacks of RFID-enabled surgical instruments solutions with other well-established traceability technologies such as barcoding.
Corporate social responsibility and Latin American firm performance
Authors: Amini Chiara , Dal Bianco Silvia
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm performance in six Latin American economies. Firm performance includes five distinct dimensions, namely, firm turnover, labour productivity, innovativeness, product differentiation and technological transfer. The countries under scrutiny are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.

Design/methodology/approach

Propensity score matching techniques are used to identify the causal effect of CSR on firm performance. To this end, World Bank Enterprise Survey (2006 wave) is used. This data set collects relevant firm-level data.

Findings

CSR has a positive impact on the outcome variables analysed, suggesting that corporate goals are compatible with conscious business operations. The results also vary across countries.

Research limitations/implications

The pattern that emerges from the analysis seems to suggest that the positive effects of CSR depend on countries’ stage of industrialisation. In particular, the least developed the economy, the wider the scope of CSR. Nonetheless, the relationship between conscious business operations, firm performance and countries’ level of development is not directly tested in the present work.

Practical implications

The main practical implication of the study is that Latin American firms should adopt CSR. This is because corporate responsible practices either improve firm performance or they are not shown to have a detrimental effect.

Social implications

The major policy implication is that emerging countries’ governments as well as international organisation should provide meaningful incentives towards CSR adoption.

Originality/value

The paper provides three major original contributions. First, it brings new descriptive evidence on CSR practices in Latin America. Second, it uses a broader and novel definition of firm performance, which is aimed at capturing developing countries’ business dynamics as well as at overcoming data limitations. Finally, it reassesses and extends the empirical evidence on the impact of CSR on firm performance.
Competing institutional pressures in corporate governance reform: the role of board interlocks and industry peers
Authors: Krenn Mario
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This study aims to examine the effects of competing influences emanating from firms’ social structural context (i.e. sent and received board of director interlocks and industry peers) on the adoption of an institutionally contested corporate governance code provision.

Design/methodology/approach

The corporate governance code provision of interest in this research recommends that German firms listed on German stock exchanges should disclose the individual remuneration arrangements for their board members. This paper uses 945 firm year observations from 2002 to 2006, the time period during which the adoption of this provision was voluntary for firms, to examine the role of firms’ social structural context in the legitimization process of this provision.

Findings

The results show that sent board interlocks to firms that defy pressures to adopt this practice have an equally pronounced but opposing effect on its institutionalization process. Received interlocks are inconsequential in this process. The results also provide evidence for the existence of competing influences emanating from firms’ industry peers. In contrast to the effects associated with sent board interlocks, at the industry level, peer acquiescence has a more pronounced effect than peer defiance. Furthermore, the practice’s legitimacy among firms’ peers moderates the effects of sent board interlocks.

Originality/value

The results of this paper suggest that a balanced approach to studying institutional change in corporate governance needs to acknowledge the co-existence of conflicting signals regarding the spread of new institutional models. The findings suggest that firms’ social structural context plays a central role in processes of contested institutional change. Board interlocks and industry peers carry the potential to facilitate institutional change and facilitate institutional continuity and resistance to change. However, not all board interlocks are of equal importance, and industry peers constitute a source of legitimacy to which directors forming the interlocks attend.
Going back to go forward: on studying the determinants of corporate governance disclosure
Authors: Nerantzidis Michail , Tsamis Anastasios
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to review the prior empirical studies that investigate the corporate governance (CG) determinants and provide a synopsis, and explore the main factors that drive the level of CG disclosure in the Greek context.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors perform an extensive review of the relevant literature and identify 24 papers that use various potential factors. Afterwards, the authors construct two different GC indices to investigate these potentials, and the authors conduct multiple regression analysis to identify and explain these determinants.

Findings

The empirical analysis shows that large Greek listed firms are more likely to disclose more CG information in the CG statement. In addition, the analysis shows statistically significant association with performance-related variables (such as Tobin’s Q and liquidity) and CG-related variables (such as independent members, board meetings and women on board).

Research limitations/implications

The results of the study support theoretical arguments that Greek listed firms disclose CG information not only to fulfill task-related requirements but also to be perceived as social and legitimate.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that provides a synopsis of the prior literature in CG determinants, while it goes one step further by using the majority of the potential factors that have been used so far. Moreover, this study uses a multi-theoretical framework to address theoretical development, an approach that generates an outline of fruitful directions for future research.
Climbing down the ladder makes you play it safe
Authors: Yi Youjae , Kim Seo Young , Hwang Jae Won
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This study aims to examine how social exclusion and the social status of a rejecter affect consumers’ purchase intentions toward ordinary products.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The status of a rejecter, whether high or low, had a significant influence on individuals’ evaluations of ordinary products. Results showed that individuals who were rejected by a low status source had higher purchase intentions toward the ordinary (vs unique) products compared to those who were rejected by a high status source due to threatened self-concept.

Practical implications

With the increased number of lonely consumers in the market today, firms should pay closer attention to the behavioral patterns of consumers who are socially excluded. In addition, firms should be aware that consumers’ purchase intentions vary depending on the sources of social exclusion.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the significant impact of sources of social exclusion on consumers’ evaluation of ordinary products. Moreover, this study focuses on a relatively neglected definition of social status, namely, the sociometric status, to fill the gap in the social status literature.
Generating sales while providing service
Authors: Faia Valter da Silva , Vieira Valter Afonso
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend the previous regulatory focus and sales force control literature suggesting that organizational control system not only moderates but also mediates the interactive effect of the assessment × locomotion on salesperson ambidextrous behavior. Organizational control system, which has behavior and outcome dimensions, moderates the effects of employee regulatory focus on their ambidextrous behavior, sales performance, and satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a survey with 163 bank frontline employees (FLEs) who sell financial products to final consumers. Each respondent was approached by a professional interviewer who presented the questionnaire and collected the answers. These respondents are FLEs, who are the ones that sell financial services and are responsible for post-sales services, such as answering customer questions and account problems. In the sample, FLEs are the primary source of revenue generation and services activities (ambidextrous features) in banking sector, similar to Baileyet al.(2016).

Findings

First, the moderating and mediation analysis showed that the interactive effect of both regulatory focus, locomotion and assessment, predicts FLE ambidextrous behavior. Second, this interaction effect suffers a three-way interaction under organizational control system. Third, organizational control system also moderates the impact of ambidextrous behavior on performance, such that outcome-based control system amplifies the relationship. Fourth, the authors found a conditional indirect effect, in such ambidextrous behavior, mediates the indirect effect of control system on sales performance, generating stronger (vs weaker) results under an outcome-based control system (vs behavior-based control system).

Research limitations/implications

Since this study adopts the cross-sectional research design, the authors could not empirically demonstrate the causality of the relationships among constructs. The authors also analyzed the organizational control system from the FLEs perspective and not from the supervisors/managers perspective, who daily control employees activities.

Originality/value

The authors propose a conditioning indirect mediating impact of control system on performance and consumer satisfaction through ambidextrous behavior and explore the regulatory focus-ambidexterity-performance moderating chain, theorizing that this sequence depends on the level of control system.
Adaptation to climate change in Quebec’s coastal zone: a difficult transformation of public action
Authors: Noblet Mélinda , Brisson Genevieve
Published: March 2017

Purpose

In recent years, the manifestation of the effects of climate change in coastal zones has prompted governments to mobilize and propose adaptation measures to reduce the vulnerability of their populations. For the governments responsible for the implementation of climate policies, adaptation still represents a novel field of action. The purpose of this paper is to show, via the example of Quebec’s coastal zone, how the transformation of public action relating to adaptation remains difficult.

Design/methodology/approach

For this case study, a qualitative method which combines documentary analysis and semi-directed interviews was selected.

Findings

The study shows how adaptation becomes a new issue in public action for the different authorities dealing with the effects of climate change in Quebec’s coastal zone. However, the results show that, as with other public policies, path dependence and incrementalism can be observed and limit the scope of public action and of the transformational processes in the field of adaptation. The technical–scientific approach to risk management is dominant, and the adaptation is not approached in a transversal way, despite its importance. Finally, concrete adaptation initiatives appear to be mostly relegated to the local scale, in an informal decentralization process.

Originality/value

This study contributes to improve climate action by favouring a reflection on the consideration of the conceptual and theoretical framework in the climate change adaptation literature and offers decision-makers and practitioners keys to the understanding of mechanisms underlying public action in the field of adaptation.
In pursuit of an environmentally friendly convention industry
Authors: Park Hyo-Yeun , Kim Dae-Kwan
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to systematically develop a sustainability framework and guidelines for the green convention industry to cover the entire process of hosting a convention.

Design/methodology/approach

The guidelines were designed in three phases: defining a sustainability framework for a green convention, conducting a three-round Delphi survey and developing comprehensive guidelines. The relative weights and/or importance were calculated and compared based on questionnaires and the analytic hierarchy process method.

Findings

This study summarized 153 sustainable practices and their relative importance (seven categories and 37 subcategories) to suggest future directions and managerial implications for academia and practitioners to cope with negative environmental impacts and to create an environmentally sustainable convention industry.

Research limitations/implications

Because the proposed framework and guidelines were developed in a particular environment, their applicability might be improved by further review prior to translating them into another context.

Practical implications

This study provides implications to help practitioners plan and execute events in more environmentally and socially responsible ways. Practitioners may use the proposed guidelines, either as a whole or in part, to select the areas that are most applicable or in need of attention. Additionally, the guidelines may be used as an evaluation framework after hosting a convention to indicate specific ways to reduce harmful environmental practices and the importance of each practice.

Originality/value

The proposed sustainability framework and guidelines consider all aspects of the convention industry, including all possible aspects of stakeholders that may affect convention organizers and participants, as well as related industries.
Attributes of the Blumenau (Brazil) brand from the residents’ perspective, and its influence on the decision to stay in the destination
Authors: Zucco Fabrícia Durieux , Reis Clóvis , Anjos Sara Joana Gadotti dos , Effting Samara Jane , Pereira Melise de Lima
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the attributes of Blumenau city brand, from the residents’ perspective and its relation to their intention to remain living there.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a quantitative study using survey data collected from a sample of 417 subjects, stratified by neighborhood, income class, gender and age. The theoretical and methodological framework is the scale developed by Merrileeset al.(2009) and the FOCUS (2014) report about the self-image of the residents of Blumenau.

Findings

There is a positive relationship between the assessment of the attributes of the municipality and the residents’ attitude toward Blumenau brand. The study also verified a positive relationship between Blumenau brand assessment and the residents’ intention regarding their own future. In fact, the relative satisfaction of the respondents with the attributes of the city, as well as the positive socio-economic indicators, influenced the intention to stay in the municipality.

Originality/value

This work presents a methodological combination of the evaluation of city branding and the intention to remain living in a certain place. The study adds important information on the role of the residents on the process of city brand building, showing that besides the transient assessment, the intentions to remain in a place should be considered, given that such intent is linked to the image that residents have of the city.
You can’t win by avoiding difficult conversations
Authors: Patton Bruce
Published: March 2017

Purpose

In business, the failure to engage difficult conversations productively can prevent winning in the market and invite the competition to forge ahead. This study aims to identify areas in business where avoiding difficult conversations can put winning out of reach and present guidelines for handling difficult conversations in these domains.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that presents guidelines on how to manage difficult conversations effectively.

Findings

This study shows how to manage difficult conversations with regards to the areas of compensation, performance, strategy and implementation.

Originality/value

This paper catalogs sources of lost value. Furthermore, this study outlines what is needed to capture such value, and briefly explains the principles for how to transform an organization to build such capability as a core competence.
Two decades of business negotiation research: an overview and suggestions for future studies
Authors: Agndal Henrik , Åge Lars-Johan , Eklinder-Frick Jens
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to present a review of articles on business negotiation published between 1995 and 2015.

Design/methodology/approach

This literature review is based on 490 articles on business negotiation.

Findings

When analyzing the conceptual underpinnings of this field, two paradigms emerge as dominant. The most prominent paradigm is a cognitive, psychological approach, typically relying on experiments and statistical testing of findings. The second dominating paradigm is a behavioral one, largely concerned with mathematical modeling and game-theoretical models.

Practical implications

Besides offering a description of the characteristics adhered to the business negotiation field, this paper will also suggest recommendations for further research and specify areas in which the research field needs further conceptual and empirical development.

Originality/value

This literature review serves to be the first representation of the characteristics adhered to the budding research field of business negotiation.
International business negotiations in Brazil
Authors: Fang Tony , Schaumburg Josephine , Fjellström Daniella
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore an innovative strategy for studying the Brazilian negotiator’s unique and paradoxical characteristics from a cultural point of view to acquire a better understanding of the nature of international business negotiations in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is of a qualitative nature, using a multiple-case study design at three levels (small-, medium- and large-scale negotiations). Interviews were conducted with Brazilian and German managers to capture the emic–etic view of the Brazilian negotiator. The Strategic Trinity Model was developed to assess the behavior of the Brazilian negotiator in agreement with three metaphors: “African Capoeirista”, “Portuguese Bureaucrat” and “Indigenous Warrior”.

Findings

The three roles “African Capoeirista”, “Portuguese Bureaucrat” and “Indigenous Warrior” comprised similar as well as contradicting characteristics. The Brazilian negotiator chose naturally and even paradoxically from these role features, effectively negotiating any given situation, context and time. During the pre- and post-negotiation phases, traits of the “African Capoeirista” and “Indigenous Warrior” were the most salient. During the formal negotiation phase, however, the characteristics of the “African Capoeirista” and “Portuguese Bureaucrat” dominated.

Research limitations/implications

International business negotiations in Brazil call for an in-depth comprehension of the paradoxical roles that local negotiators take on to achieve better negotiation outcomes.

Originality/value

The present study unveiled the contradicting Brazilian negotiating style in international business negotiations, thus acquiring a better understanding of the negotiation process in the Brazilian market.
A human capital measurement scale
Authors: Vidotto Juarez Domingos Frasson , Ferenhof Helio Aisenberg , Selig Paulo Mauricio , Bastos Rogerio Cid
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Despite the large number of academic publications in human capital, there are few instruments to measure it. The purpose of this paper is to develop a holistic scale to measure human capital, considering aspects related to competence, attitudes, skills, leadership, and organizational memory.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a literature review of the existing measurement models was carried out. Second, based on the results the authors developed a scale and a questionnaire that were applied in a financial institution in Santa Catarina, Brazil, supported by a factor analysis and a reliability analysis.

Findings

As a result of this study a scale consisting of 13 variables of human capital emerged that have been grouped into three factors – leadership and motivation; qualifications; and satisfaction and creativity – which can assist in the organization’s human capital measurement. From a theoretical view, a more holistic scale is provided, which helps to overcome a unilateral focus on knowledge (intangibles).

Research limitations/implications

This work points out that the survey data were collected from a sample of 220 relationship managers of a specific financial institution. The results should be tested in other banks or organizations from other sectors to check their suitability and to be generalized.

Practical implications

From a practical point of view, it contributes a “tool” that can assist in the measurement of human capital and in the knowledge contained, dimensioning the organizational memory and human repositories.

Originality/value

This is the first study that provides a scale to measure organizational human capital from the Brazilian financial perspective.
Project management control within a multicultural setting
Authors: de Waal André A. , de Boer Freke A.
Published: March 2017

Purpose

There is a growing debate and research stream on the influence of national culture on the type and nature of management control systems (MCSs) used by organizations in the country. A specific case is the management control of projects executed in a multicultural international environment. The purpose of this paper is to describe the findings of a study into the role of national cultures in controlling a project which a multinational undertook in four countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on project management control literature a theoretical MCS for international projects is developed. Subsequently, the influence of national culture on this system is discussed, using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Then the theoretical system is applied on the project the multinational case company executed in four countries (Austria, Finland, India, and Russia).

Findings

A key finding is that different national cultures do require different types of control, but that this effect is neutralized by the culture of the multinational which is the same all over the world and which supersedes national cultures. This makes it possible to implement a standardized project management control framework.

Originality/value

The research yielded a conceptual project management control framework which in practice seemed to be useful for controlling not only the process and progress but also the product (end result) of a project in a multicultural environment.
Factors influencing the integration of external evaluations in the open innovation process
Authors: Mueller Julia , Abecassis-Moedas Celine
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Many industries are increasingly affected by or even invite the participation of external stakeholders in the innovation process. The concepts of open innovation use the ideas of external stakeholders to foster innovation and make the firms more competitive. However, little research has considered whether evaluations from external stakeholders also serve as a source for open innovation and, and if so, in which way they are integrated into the innovation process. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore how external evaluations influence the innovation process in the creative industries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted an explorative qualitative study using a mixture of an inductive and deductive research design. The authors interviewed 14 artists in order to understand how external evaluations are integrated in the innovation process.

Findings

The paper formulates propositions on factors that influence whether and how external evaluations are a resource for the innovation process in micro-firms. The factors are the situation of the individual that is evaluated, the external evaluator’s credibility, the content of the evaluation, and the potential impact of the evaluation on the individual evaluated.

Originality/value

This paper provides exploratory insights into a so far neglected source of open innovation and its external evaluations in micro-firms in the creative industries.
Reducing biases of decision-making processes in complex organizations
Authors: Cristofaro Matteo
Published: March 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to study how biases in decision-making processes could be reduced. In this vein, over the past 30 years, scholars interested in decision-making have been raising their interest in the development of quality control tools to mitigate the effects of cognitive distortions. However, they have often neglected the use of psychological instruments for understanding the role of decision-makers’ personality in the quality of the decision-making processes.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an intrinsic case study about an Italian complex organization (i.e. Consorzio ELIS) which tries to shed light on the identified research question. Three decision-makers responsible for the decision processes of three new business initiatives were interviewed using a recent quality control tool (i.e. checklist) and their personality types were tracked by performing MBTI® tests. The thematic analysis, approached by using NVivo software, and after six months of direct observations inside the organization, allowed an understanding of the decision processes and their distortions.

Findings

The results of this study show how initiatives with frequent quality control mechanisms and different stakeholders are more able to pass the decision phase than initiatives with no controls, few participants and little difference between personalities.

Originality/value

The results of this work show how reducing biases of decision-making processes in complex organizations can benefit from the simultaneous use of the checklist and MBTI® test. As demonstrated, when used together, they can make more effective use of and provide better results for both, as well as providing a better quality control of the decision-making processes. From that, an approach is proposed that both takes into account the two perspectives and can work together with other cognitive problem structuring methods.
Gender moderation of intrinsic research productivity antecedents in South African academia
Authors: Callaghan Chris
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Ascription theory together with human capital theory both predict that, over time, the scarcity of knowledge and skills in increasingly complex working contexts will “crowd out” the influence of arbitrary characteristics such as gender. The purpose of this paper is to test the extent to which job performance determinants of research productivity differ by gender in their contributions to research productivity, in the developing country (South Africa) context, in which gender and other forms of historical discrimination were previously endemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Research output was measured as published journal articles indexed by Thomson Reuters Institute for Scientific Information, ProQuest’s International Bibliography of the Social Sciences and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training, as well as conference proceedings publications, conference papers presented and published books and book chapters. Structural equation modelling, with critical ratio andχ2tests of path moderation were used to test theory predicting gender (sex) differences moderate the potential influence of certain intrinsic determinants of job performance on research productivity, as a form of academic job performance.

Findings

Gender is found to moderate the relationship between experience and research productivity, with this relationship stronger for men, who are also found to have higher research output. This is considered a paradox of sorts, as English and African home languages, which proxy racial differences in societal and economic disadvantages and unequal opportunities, are not significantly associated with research output differences. Findings further suggest none of the tested intrinsic effects are moderated by gender, contesting theory from general work contexts.

Research limitations/implications

This research applied a cross-sectional design, and did not apply causal methods, instrumental variables or controls for endogeneity. Nevertheless, these are limitations shared with most research in the human resources field, which is constrained by the type of data available in organisational contexts. Further research might do well to investigate non-intrinsic influences on research productivity which may be vulnerable to differences in societal gender roles.

Originality/value

This research offers a novel perspective of research productivity and gender inequality in a developing country context of increasing diversity, which might offer useful insights into other contexts facing increasing diversity in higher education. The problem of gender-based inequality in research productivity is empirically identified, and little evidence is found to support the notion that intrinsic effects, including core self-evaluations, are at the heart of this problem. Arguably, these findings reduce the problem space around gender inequality in research productivity, in a context in which other forms of disadvantage might no longer manifest in research productivity inequality.
The role of leaders in achieving organisational outcomes
Authors: Su Sophia , Baird Kevin
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical insight into the association between the leadership style of top management (using Stogdill and Coons’(1957) consideration and initiating leadership styles), the approach to using controls (using Simons’ (1995) interactive and diagnostic use of controls) and two organisational outcomes (business unit performance and employee organisational commitment (EOC)).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through a survey of 120 middle-level managers of Australian service organisations.

Findings

The findings reveal that both the consideration and initiating leadership styles were associated with the diagnostic approach to using controls, while the initiating style was also associated with the interactive approach to using controls. In addition, the diagnostic approach to using controls was found to be associated with both organisational performance and EOC. The authors conclude that the diagnostic approach to using controls mediates the association between both the consideration and initiating styles of leadership with organisational performance and EOC.

Practical implications

The findings provide practitioners with an important initial insight into the role of leaders in enhancing the achievement of organisational outcomes. From a practical perspective, organisations should consider these findings when recruiting. Specifically, organisations should work towards ensuring that their top-level managers possess such personal leadership traits. This could be achieved either through installing appropriate recruitment procedures and/or through the implementation of management training programmes.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature by considering the interrelationship between two perspectives of the role of leaders, the leadership style and the use of controls
Landscape‐scale interactions of spatial and temporal cropland heterogeneity drive biological control of cereal aphids
Authors: Bosem Baillod Aliette , Tscharntke Teja , Clough Yann , Batáry Péter
Published: March 2017

Agricultural landscapes are characterised by dynamic crop mosaics changing in composition and configuration over space and time. Although semi‐natural habitat has been often shown to contribute to pest biological control, the effects of increasing landscape heterogeneity with cropland have been disregarded. Here, we examine how cereal aphids, their enemies and biological control are affected by the composition and configuration of the crop mosaic and its inter‐annual change due to crop rotation.

We studied the abundance of cereal aphids, natural enemies and aphid parasitism over 2 years on 51 winter wheat fields. Arthropods were monitored at three distances (0, 10, 30 m) from field borders. Fields were embedded in landscapes of 1‐km diameter selected along orthogonal gradients of compositional crop heterogeneity (crop diversity), configurational heterogeneity (field border and grassy field boundary length) and inter‐annual change in cover of aphid host habitats (cereal, maize and grassland). We aimed to disentangle spatial and temporal heterogeneity effects through these independent landscape gradients.

Aphid densities were lower in landscapes with smaller field size (more field borders) coupled with high amounts of grassy field boundaries. Aphid densities decreased also in landscapes with higher crop diversity when the cover of aphid host habitat had decreased from the year before. Aphid natural enemy densities decreased with smaller field size and high amounts of grassy field boundaries. Aphid parasitism decreased with the inter‐annual expansion in aphid host habitat, but only in landscapes with small field sizes.

Synthesis and applications. Our study shows for the first time that cereal aphid numbers can be reduced by optimising the composition, configuration and temporal heterogeneity of the crop mosaic. We highlight the value of maintaining small field sizes in agricultural landscapes and high densities of grassy boundaries for reducing aphid abundance. Landscape‐wide crop diversification can reduce aphid densities as well.
Causes and Contributing Factors to “Dark Cutting” Meat: Current Trends and Future Directions: A Review
Authors: Ponnampalam Eric N. , Hopkins David L. , Bruce Heather , Li Duo , Baldi Gianluca , Bekhit Alaa El‐din
Published: March 2017

Dark cutting in beef and sheep meat has been the subject of extensive research with numerous associations established between it and various production practices. Despite these associations, dark cutting still occurs and causes significant financial losses globally in the fresh meat market. Consumers tend to reject dark meat as it is perceived to be from old or poorly‐handled animals and is described as being tough, having an undesirable flavor, and having a short shelf‐life. There is no universal system to categorize dark cutting carcasses and meat across countries, although various methods are used to determine the phenomenon. Classifying carcasses as dark cutters on the basis of ultimate pH or color using one muscle, such as the m.longissimus thoraciscan lead to mis‐description of other muscles within the same carcass and loss of income across the supply chain. The purpose of this review was to identify the factors predisposing animals to dark cutting and to provide recommendations and directions for future research. The review revealed no single production factor causing dark cutting, but that a range of factors or a combination of factors and interactions lead to its occurrence. Dark cutting is a complex condition that can be resolved through comprehensive management of animals, and management of human involvement, and clear guidelines to minimize the incidence of “dark cutting” meat and to improve the profitability of all sectors in the supply chain are provided here.
Effect of History and Context on Forensic Pathologist Interpretation of Photographs of Patterned Injury of the Skin
Authors: Oliver William R.
Published: March 2017

In a previous study, a survey‐based analysis of pathologist diagnoses of patterned injury was performed. Subjects were provided with photographs of “classic” injuries and asked to diagnose the lesion in the absence of history or context. There was a relatively low diagnostic consensus among respondents. A second survey suggested that the disparate answers were not due to a strong belief in different diagnoses, but instead reflected how the respondents dealt with ambiguity. A third survey was created that asked participants to evaluate patterned injuries of the skin, but provided history and contextual information. The addition of history and contextual information increased consensus from a median of 80% to 98% on a per‐question basis. Confidence increased from a median of 56%–92%. These results demonstrate the importance of history and context in medical diagnosis of patterned injuries of the skin.
A Novel Approach to Limit Chemical Deterioration of Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) Fillets: Coating with Electrospun Nanofibers as Characterized by Molecular, Thermal, and Microstructural Properties
Authors: Ceylan Zafer , Sengor Gulgun F. Unal , Yilmaz Mustafa Tahsin
Published: March 2017

Coating of sea bream fillets with thymol loaded chitosan based electrospun nanofibers (TLCN) and chitosan based nanafibers (CN) has been presented a novel approach to delay chemical deterioration. We assessed CN and TLCN with respect of scanting of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), trimethylamine (TMA), thiobarbituric acid (TBA) deterioration during cold storage condition. Electrospinning process was applied to obtain TLCN and CN. Both of nanofibers obtained from biopolymer and bioactive material were cylindrical, smooth, beadless. Thermal, molecular, zeta potential (ZP), and surface properties of the groups were investigated, revealing that CN indicated molecular interactions with thymol in nanofibers, reduce in physical properties of these structures, thermal decomposition (an alteration in mass of CN and TLCN at temperatures below 190 °C, corresponding to 20.53% and 19.97%, respectively) and also dispersion stabilities (ζ potential) of CN and TLCN were determined 33.68 ± 3.35 and 21.85 ± 1.96 mV, respectively. TVBN and TMA stability analyses demonstrated that CN and TLCN were both effective in delaying chemical deterioration of fish fillets, furthermore TLCN was more effective against chemical deterioration. TBA analyses results of fish fillets indicated that CN and TLCN delayed rancidity in fish meat as compared to control group samples. The presented study results suggested that coating of the sea bream fillets with CN and TLCN would be a promising approach to delay the chemical deterioration of fish fillets.
Eliminating cows’ milk, but not wheat, barley or rye, increases the risk of growth deceleration and nutritional inadequacies
Authors: Tuokkola Jetta , Luukkainen Päivi , Nevalainen Jaakko , Ahonen Suvi , Toppari Jorma , Ilonen Jorma , Veijola Riitta , Knip Mikael , Virtanen Suvi M. , Kaila Minna
Published: March 2017

Aim

Our study examined the growth and nutritional intake of children on milk and/or wheat, barley or rye elimination diets.

Methods

This was a nested case–control study within the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study. It investigated 295 children born in the Tampere University Hospital area between 1997 and 2004 on a diet without cows’ milk and/or wheat, barley or rye due to food allergies and 265 matched controls. Nutritional intake was recorded with three‐day food records at the ages of one, two and three years. Serial growth measurements were recorded annually up to the age of five years.

Results

Despite consuming a balanced diet with sufficient energy and protein, the children on milk elimination diets grew slower than the control children (p = 0.009). Wheat, barley or rye elimination was not associated with growth. The intakes of protein and calcium were lower in children in the milk elimination group than the controls, at p < 0.05 for all. However, children on elimination diets consumed less saturated fats and sugar and more vitamin C and iron than the control children.

Conclusion

Children on elimination diets faced an increased risk of growth deceleration and suboptimal intake of several micronutrients.
Evaluation of a point‐of‐care electrochemical meter to detect subclinical ketosis and hypoglycaemia in lactating dairy cows
Authors: Zakian A , Tehrani‐Sharif M , Mokhber‐Dezfouli MR , Nouri M , Constable PD
Published: March 2017

Objectives

To evaluate and validate a hand‐held electrochemical meter (Precision Xtra®) as a screening test for subclinical ketosis and hypoglycaemia in lactating dairy cattle.

Design

Method comparison study using a convenience sample.

Procedure

Blood samples were collected into plain tubes from the coccygeal vessels of 181 Holstein cows at 2–4 weeks of lactation during summer in Iran. Blood β‐hydroxybutyrate concentration (BHB) and glucose concentration were immediately measured by the electrochemical meter after applying 20 μL of blood to the reagent strip. Passing–Bablok regression and Bland‐Altman plots were used to determine the accuracy of the meter against laboratory reference methods (BHB dehydrogenase and glucose oxidase).

Results

Serum BHB ranged from 0.1 to 7.3 mmol/L and serum glucose ranged from 0.9 to 5.1 mmol/L. Passing–Bablok regression analysis indicated that the electrochemical meter and reference methods were linearly related for BHB and glucose, with a slope estimate that was not significantly different from 1.00. Clinically minor, but statistically significant, differences were present for the intercept value for Passing–Bablok regression analysis for BHB and glucose, and bias estimates in the Bland‐Altman plots for BHB and glucose.

Conclusion

The electrochemical meter provided a clinically useful method to detect subclinical ketosis and hypoglycaemia in lactating dairy cows. Compared with other method validation studies using the meter, we attributed the improved performance of the electrochemical meter to application of a fixed volume of blood (20 μL) to the reagent strip, use of the meter in hot ambient conditions and use of glucose oxidase as the reference method for glucose analysis.
Outcomes in patients after myocardial infarction similar to those of the PEGASUS‐TIMI 54 trial: A cohort study in the French national claims database
Authors: Blin Patrick , Dureau‐Pournin Caroline , Lassalle Régis , Jové Jérémy , Thomas‐Delecourt Florence , Droz‐Perroteau Cécile , Danchin Nicolas , Moore Nicholas
Published: March 2017

Aims

The present study aims to describe real‐life outcomes in stable patients after‐myocardial infarction (MI) similar to those in the PEGASUS‐TIMI 54 trial (PEGASUS), which found long‐term benefits of ticagrelor in patients with a history of MI.

Methods

One‐year event‐free post‐MI patients were identified in the French claims database representative 1/97 sample (2005–2010) and followed for up to 3 years. A PEGASUS‐like (PL) population included patients with age ≥ 65 years, or age ≥ 50 and diabetes, renal dysfunction or prior MI, without stroke, end‐stage renal failure or oral anticoagulation. Outcomes were: a composite of all‐cause death or hospital admission for MI or stroke; individual events; major bleeding.

Results

There were 1585 post‐MI patients totalling 3926 person–years including 865 PL patients (2114 PY); 68% were male; mean age was 66 (standard deviation 15) in post‐MI, 74 (10) in PL. Outcomes per 100 person–years [95% confidence interval] were, respectively, in post‐MI and PL 6.3 [5.6–7.1] and 7.8 [6.7–8.9] for the composite outcome; 5.1 [4.4–5.8] and 6.5 [5.5–7.6] for death; 1.0 [0.7–1.3] and 1.0 [0.6–1.4] for MI; 0.6 [0.4–0.9] and 0.9 [0.5–1.2] for stroke; 1.3 [0.9–1.6] and 1.4 [0.9–1.9] for major bleeding. Event rates were stable over the 3 study years. Placebo patients in the PEGASUS‐TIMI54 Study were younger, more often male and had lower event rates, especially for all‐cause death and major bleeding.

Conclusions

Patients selected using the criteria described in PEGASUS were older with more comorbidities, resulting in higher all‐cause death and bleeding rates, but similar MI recurrence rates.