bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Knowledge workers deserve differentiated offices and workplace facilities
Authors: Boge Knut , Temeljorov Salaj Alenka , Bakken Ida , Granli Magnus , Mandrup Silje 
Published: December 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence effective workplace designs for knowledge workers.Design/methodology/approachDuring spring 2016, the employees in a large institution for research and higher education, a large consultancy company and a medium-sized consultancy company (in total 4367 employees) in Norway received invitations to participate in an anonymous online survey about workplaces and facilities. In all, 1,670 employees answered the survey (38.2 per cent response rate). The data have been analyzed with IBM SPSS version 23, among others through use of exploratory factor analysis and two-way ANOVA.FindingsMost respondents at the institution for research and higher education have cell offices. Most respondents in the two consultancy companies have open and flexible offices. This paper indicate the respondents’ preferences or perception of their workstation and the workplace’s fit for their tasks is affected both by the respondents’ type of office and how much time they spend at their workstation during the week. There are also possible age or generation effects.Research limitations/implicationsOne methodical weakness in the present paper is that two-way ANOVA has been applied on survey data. Experiments are usually arranged to provide almost equal numbers of observations in each category. This is usually not possible with survey data. However, despite this weakness, the present paper provides several findings that challenge some of the workplace research’s taken for givens.Practical implicationsThe present paper indicates that facility managers and others responsible for office and workplace design are advised to take the employees’ tasks and work patterns into consideration when designing workplaces and providing offices and workstations to their end-users. The present paper also indicates that employees require different kinds of support facilities and services depending on what kind of offices and workplaces they have.Originality/valueThis is a large N empirical study among knowledge workers in three organizations, one public administration and two private enterprises. The present paper indicate that provision of offices and workstations with supporting facilities should be differentiated according to the end-users’ work tasks and work patterns.
Heuristics versus econometrics as a basis for forecasting international inflation differentials
Authors: Rötheli Tobias 
Published: December 2018

Purpose
This study aims to address the issue of prediction of inflation differences for an economy that considers either fixing its exchange rate or joining a currency union. In this setting, individual countries have limited control over their inflation, and anticipating the possible course of domestic inflation relative to inflation abroad becomes an important input in policy-making. In this context, the author compares simple forecast heuristics and econometric modeling.

Design/methodology/approach
The study compares two basically different approaches. The first approach of forecasting consists of simple heuristics. Various heuristics are considered that differ with respect to the economic reasoning that goes into quantifying the forecast rules. The simplest such forecasting heuristic suggests that the average over all available observations of inflation differentials should be taken as a predictor for the future. Bringing more economic insight to bear suggests a further heuristic according to which historical inflation differentials should be adjusted for changes in the nominal exchange rate. A further variant of this approach suggests that a forecast should exclusively rely on data from earlier times under a pegged exchange rate. A fundamentally different approach to prediction builds on dynamic econometric models estimated by using all available historical data independent of the currency regime.

Findings
The author studies three small member countries of the Eurozone, i.e. Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal. For the evaluation of the various forecasting strategies, he performs out-of-sample predictions over a horizon of five years. The comparison of the four different forecasting strategies documents that the variant of the forecast heuristic that draws on data from earlier experiences under fixed exchange rates performs better than the forecast based on the estimated econometric model.

Practical implications
The findings of this study provide helpful guidelines for countries considering either joining a currency union or fixing their exchange rate. The author shows that a simple forecasting heuristic gives sound advice for assessing the likely course of inflation.

Originality/value
This study describes how economic theory can guide the selection of historical data for assessing likely future developments. The analysis shows that using a simple heuristic based on historical analogy can lead to better forecasts than the analytically more sophisticated approach of econometric modeling.
A literature review on the student evaluation of teaching
Authors: Ching Gregory 
Published: December 2018

PurposeCompetition among higher education institutions has pushed universities to expand their competitive advantages. Based on the assumption that the core functions of universities are academic, understanding the teaching–learning process with the help of student evaluation of teaching (SET) would seem to be a logical solution in increasing competitiveness. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe current paper presents a narrative literature review examining how SETs work within the concept of service marketing, focusing specifically on the search, experience, and credence qualities of the provider. A review of the various factors that affect the collection of SETs is also included.FindingsRelevant findings show the influence of students’ prior expectations on SET ratings. Therefore, teachers are advised to establish a psychological contract with the students at the start of the semester. Such an agreement should be negotiated, setting out the potential benefits of undertaking the course and a clear definition of acceptable performance within the class. Moreover, connections should be made between courses and subjects in order to provide an overall view of the entire program together with future career pathways.Originality/valueGiven the complex factors affecting SETs and the antecedents involved, there appears to be no single perfect tool to adequately reflect what is happening in the classroom. As different SETs may be needed for different courses and subjects, options such as faculty self-evaluation and peer-evaluation might be considered to augment current SETs.
The potential of digital sand-table use in engineering education
Authors: Molina Juan Ramón , Rodríguez y Silva Francisco , Herrera Miguel Ángel 
Published: December 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show the evaluation of the learning process to determinate if engineering student marks would be better from sand-table teaching than from traditional teaching.

Design/methodology/approach
The innovative teaching project incorporating digital sand-table use was evaluated by asking undergraduate and postgraduate students to rate their learning experiences and by analyzing their academic performance.

Findings
The results show that the percentage of students passing the courses, and marks on the course tests were higher for students taught using sand-table, compared to students taught without using this tool.

Practical implications
Engineering curricula are constantly revised to address the demands for undergraduate courses and specialization courses, and the differing needs of actual practice in relation to theoretical knowledge.

Originality/value
The experience at the University of Córdoba (Spain) offers some insights to other engineering degrees and educational institutions that wish to focus on the development of innovative academic programs and student capabilities.
Progressive human resource management and firm performance
Authors: Gahlawat Neha , Kundu Subhash C. 
Published: December 2018

PurposeThis study aims to examine the adoption and efficacy level of progressive human resource management (HRM) practices in various organizations operating in India.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data based on 615 respondents from 103 domestic firms and 116 foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in India were gathered and analyzed using statistical techniques liket-test, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results reveal that the adoption of progressive HRM practices in form of self-managed teams, flexibility to work flexible hours, use of online mediums to invite applicants, selection of candidates using assessment center and integrity test, performance based incentives, flexible benefits, facility of e-learning and innovative management development programs is positively related to firm performance in Indian context. Using institutional and cultural perspective, the findings have also demonstrated that their exist differences in adoption of progressive HRM practices between foreign MNCs and domestic firms.Practical implicationsDomestic firms in India are needed to learn some important managerial lessons from the foreign MNCs, especially when their adoption of progressive practices results in more increase in firm performance. These are suggested to implement a broad range of innovative HR practices like MNCs to improve growth potential, instead of focusing on two or three practices.Originality/valueBy exploring the differences between domestic and foreign MNCs, this study has offered some key insights on the extent of adoption and operationalization of progressive HRM in current Indian business environment.
What’s so funny about sleazy greed and managerial malfeasance?
Authors: Styhre Alexander 
Published: December 2018

Purpose
Organization theory and management studies rely on a representational idiom to account faithfully for empirical data, but such research ideals do not always apprehend what is essential in the case at hand. Comedy and the comical remain an underutilized resource within, e.g. the critique of power imbalances and imprudent or illicit behavior in corporations, providing an entirely different set of mechanisms that do not sketch the “broad picture” but target elementary and constitutive empirical data. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities for using such resources in management studies writing.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the literature addressing the Enron bankruptcy as an exemplary case wherein an analytical framework recognizing a comic outlook of life can be fruitfully applied. Additional cases are presented to substantiate the proposed model.

Findings
The paper advocates a broader repertoire of analytical practices in organization studies, including techniques and modes of representation used in comedy.

Originality/value
The paper proposes a minor literature within management studies, drawing on a performative idiom and the use of comedy techniques, including the debasing of social situations, to extend the repertoire of styles. In the end, such a minor literature may be able to grapple with the current situation, characterized by organizational absurdities that preclude the use of a representational idiom.
The deadly elasticity of heteronormative assumptions in South African organisations
Authors: Ndzwayiba Nceba , Steyn Melissa 
Published: December 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the discourses of gender empowerment in South African organisations to determine the extent to which they reify or resist the entrenched oppressive gender binaries.Design/methodology/approachMultiple case studies design and critical discourse analysis were employed to collect and analyse the data. Research entailed critical analysis of 36 published documents containing information on gender and gender empowerment. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with six transformation managers as change agents who are tasked with the responsibility of driving gender empowerment in the selected organisations.FindingsThe authors found that gender in studied organisations was insularly defined within the confines of the male–female gender binaries. Consequently, designed gender empowerment strategies and ensuing initiatives mainly focussed on promoting the inclusion of heterosexual women in and on protecting these women from heterosexual men. Thus, gender empowerment systematised heteropatriachy in organisational culture and processes while invisibilising and annihilating the possibility of existence of alternative genders outside these naturalised binaries. Transformation managers, as change agents, fell short of acknowledging, challenging and changing these entrenched ideologies of patriotic heterosexuality.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper uses Galting’s (1960) and Paul Farmer’s (2009) concept of structural violence and Rich’s (1980) notion of “deadly elasticity of heterosexual assumptions”, to theorise these gender empowerment discourses as constituting and perpetuating violence against queer bodies and subjectivities.Practical implicationsThe paper recommends that corporates need to broaden their conceptions of gender and to design and entrench gender discourses that promote gender justice and equality.Social implicationsThis inquiry proves Joan Acker’s (2006) and Baker’s (2012) views that inequality and injustice are produced and entrenched in a reciprocal relationship between society and the workplace.Originality/valueThis paper focusses on constructions of gender in organisations. By doing so, it links the observed violence against women and gender binary non-conforming people in society with organisational discourses of gender that perpetuate such violence instead of challenging and changing it so that democracy can be realised for all.
The effects of toothpaste amounts and post-brushing rinsing methods on salivary fluoride retention
Authors: Sotthipoka Kanyapak , Thanomsuk Pintusorn , Prasopsuk Rungroj , Trairatvorakul Chutima , Kasevayuth Kasekarn 
Published: December 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the salivary fluoride retention as fluoride concentration, amount of soluble fluoride, half-life (t1/2) and salivary flow rate of different amounts of toothpaste and rinsing procedures.

Design/methodology/approach
A randomized crossover study of 21 healthy volunteers was designed to compare pharmacokinetic parameters of 1 g (B1) and 0.3 g (B0.3) of toothpaste without rinsing and brushing with 1 g of toothpaste with expectoration followed by water rinsing (B1R). Unstimulated saliva was collected before brushing as a baseline and at 0, 5, 10, 30, 60 and 90 min after the completion of the tooth brushing procedure.

Findings
The salivary fluoride concentration and amount of soluble fluoride of the B1 group were significantly higher than the B0.3 and B1R groups. The B1 and B1R groups prolonged the remineralizing level up to 60 min while the B0.3 group retained their remineralizing levels for 30 min. The initial t1/2 (rapid phase) of B1 and B1R groups were significantly longer than the B0.3 group. The late t1/2 (slow phase) of the B0.3 group was significantly longer than the B1 group. This is called the two-compartment open pharmacokinetics model. There was no statistical difference of salivary flow rates between all groups.

Originality/value
Non-rinsing and the amount of fluoride toothpaste play an important role in raising salivary fluoride levels and prolonging the remineralizing level of the oral cavity.
Phenotypes of atopic dermatitis identified by cluster analysis in early childhood
Authors: Seo Euri , Yoon Jisun , Jung Sungsu , Lee Jina , Lee Beom Hee , Yu Jinho 
Published: December 2018

AbstractAtopic dermatitis is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease that usually appears in early childhood and develops into a heterogeneous disease during childhood. The clinical course and treatment for atopic dermatitis can differ according to its phenotype and/or endotype. This study aimed to identify clinical phenotypes of atopic dermatitis in early childhood. Data were obtained from 572 children under 3 years of age with atopic dermatitis. Cluster analysis applied to 11 variables, and we identified four clusters of atopic dermatitis. Children in cluster A (n = 141) had early‐onset atopic dermatitis with high blood eosinophil counts, serum total immunoglobulin E and rates of sensitization to food allergens. Children in cluster B (n = 218) had early‐onset atopic dermatitis with low blood eosinophil counts, serum total immunoglobulin E and rates of sensitization to both food and inhalant allergens. Children in cluster C (n = 53) had early‐onset atopic dermatitis with high C‐reactive protein levels and white blood cell counts. Children in cluster D (n = 160) had middle‐onset atopic dermatitis with high serum total immunoglobulin E and rates of sensitization to inhalant allergens. Cluster A had the highest Scoring for Atopic Dermatitis and transepidermal water loss values. Age at onset, age at diagnosis, white blood cell count, eosinophil count, C‐reactive protein and serum total immunoglobulin E level were the strongest predictors of cluster assignment. Analysis of these six variables alone resulted in correct classification of 95.5% of the subjects. These results support the heterogeneity of atopic dermatitis, even in early childhood.
How do lianas and vines influence competitive differences and niche differences among tree species? Concepts and a case study in a tropical forest
Authors: Muller‐Landau Helene C. , Visser Marco D. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractLianas and other climbing plants are structural parasites of trees, generally reducing host tree survival, growth, and reproduction, yet their influences on the outcome of competition among tree species have remained largely unexplored.We propose that there are three distinct components to liana–tree interactions:prevalence, defined as the proportion of infested trees;load, defined as the mean liana cover on infested trees; andtolerance, defined as the effect of a given level of infestation on tree population growth rates. We introduce a new metric that integrates these components, the lianaburden, defined as the total effect of lianas on per capita population growth rates given current prevalence, load, and tolerance. Using these metrics, we quantify variation among 33 co‐occurring tropical tree species in liana–tree interactions and its relation with shade‐tolerance.The focal tree species vary strongly in liana prevalence, load, tolerance, and burden. Interspecific variation in tolerance is the largest contributor to interspecific variation in burden. Species rankings of per capita population growth rates under current liana infestation levels differ somewhat from rankings under liana‐free conditions, and differ strongly from rankings under uniformly high liana infestation. Thus, lianas alter competitive hierarchies to benefit tree species that are relatively tolerant of and/or resistant to lianas. Among the focal tree species, shade‐tolerance is positively correlated with liana tolerance and prevalence, but largely unrelated to load and burden, meaning shade‐tolerance does not predict which species are competitively disadvantaged by lianas. We describe a variety of mechanisms by which lianas may potentially increase or decrease niche differences among tree species, including interactions with spatial and temporal environmental niche partitioning, and potential differences among tree species in relative vulnerability to different liana species.Synthesis. Lianas, like other natural enemies, can in principle alter competitive hierarchies and niche structure of co‐occurring tree species, and our analyses suggest such influences are substantial in our focal tropical tree community and likely many other tree communities as well. Quantifying these effects requires a more comprehensive approach including analyses and modelling of dynamics of liana–tree interactions and their variation with tree and liana species identities.
Biomass partitioning in response to resources availability: A comparison between native and invaded ranges in the clonal invaderCarpobrotus edulis
Authors: Portela Rubén , Barreiro Rodolfo , Roiloa Sergio R. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIdentifying the mechanism underlying plant invasiveness is a fast‐moving research topic in current ecology. Phenotypic plasticity has been pointed out as a trait that can contribute to plant invasiveness. This experiment examines the presence of rapid adaptive evolution favoring plastic biomass partitioning during the invasion process. With that aim, we tested differences in patterns of biomass allocation between populations ofCarpobrotus edulisfrom South Africa (native area) and the Iberian Peninsula (invaded area) growing under different nutrient, water and light availabilities in a common garden experiment. Here we demonstrate that biomass partitioning in response to nutrient availability inC. edulisdiffers between populations from native and invaded ranges, indicating that this trait could be under selection during the invasion process. Thus, nutrient shortage significantly increased the proportional production of roots in populations from the invaded range, but not in populations from the native area. This plastic root‐foraging response may contribute to the optimization of nutrient uptake by plants, and therefore could be considered as an adaptive strategy. Understanding the ecological implications of rapid evolution for plastic biomass partitioning is important in determining processes of plant adaptation to new environments, and contributes to disentangling the mechanisms underlying plant invasiveness.
Bilateral Information Asymmetry in the Design of an Agri‐Environmental Policy: An Application to Peatland Retirement in Norway
Authors: Cho Wonjoo , Blandford David 
Published: December 2018

AbstractAgriculture is a significant source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG mitigation through agri‐environmental programmes could be important in achieving emission reduction targets under the 2015 UN climate agreement. This study uses the principal‐agent model to examine a peatland retirement programme to reduce agricultural emissions in Norway. The focus is on the role of the government's private information in programme design. Two cases are examined. First, optimal contracts are derived when farmers have private information about the costs of implementing peat land retirement, but the government reveals its information on the resulting public benefits through differentiated contracts. This corresponds to the standard targeting strategy with one‐sided information asymmetry. In the second case, an informed principal model developed by Maskin and Tirole in a 1990 study is employed to address bilateral information asymmetry. Using the informed principal model, the government offers the same menu of contracts to farmers in order not to disclose information on the public benefits from land retirement. Empirical results show that the government can achieve a higher payoff by using a pooling offer.