bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intervention for supervisors, based on social skills and leadership, in order to improve organizational climate perception and organizational performance outcomes
Authors: Cuadra-Peralta Alejandro Adrian , Veloso-Besio Constanza , Iribaren Jose , Pinto Rodrigo 
Published: April 2017

Purpose
Interventions to develop leadership have attracted the interest of both the professional world and academia. The latter through review papers has highlighted the need to incorporate organizational performance outcomes when evaluating the effectiveness of programs for leadership development, because they have been particularly scarce. Keeping this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at direct supervisors, on the basis of social skills and transformational/transactional leadership, in order to improve organizational climate (OC) perception and objective outcomes of organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used, with no quasi-control group. Intervention was applied to all direct supervisors (n=8) of a private company in the industrial sector, with national implementation. The intervention covered a period of two months, with a total of eight sessions. The frequency of the intervention was a weekly session of 90 minutes each. The impact was measured in their direct subordinates (n=34). The outcome variables were OC perception and various indicators of organizational performance.

Findings
The results showed a statistically significant increase, moderate-to-high magnitude (dMR=0.38-1.21), in most sub-dimensions of OC. The various organizational performance indicators (e.g. volume of sales, positioning of the company, etc.) also showed improvements.

Practical implications
Results suggest that the authors’ intervention program, based on social skills and leadership, aimed to develop leadership, has an effect on organizational efficacy outcomes, such as OC perception and organizational performance. The implications of this study’s findings for HR managers are that there is a direct relation between improvement in outcomes associated with organizational effectiveness and the training of direct supervisors; this is because the leadership in the levels that deal directly with workers is responsible for carrying out the main tasks of the organization.

Originality/value
The overall objective of this research was to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at direct supervisors, on the basis of social skills and transformational/transactional leadership, in order to improve OC perception and objective outcomes of organizational performance.
Bottom-up learning, strategic flexibility and strategic change
Authors: Yi Yaqun , Gu Meng , Wei Zelong 
Published: April 2017

PurposeHow do firms make effective strategic change when competitive advantage deteriorates fast in a dynamic environment? Based on information-processing theory and organizational inertia theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how bottom-up learning affects the speed and magnitude of strategic change and if these relationships are contingent on strategic flexibility.Design/methodology/approachUsing data of 213 firms in China, the authors conduct an empirical test of hypotheses through a stepwise multivariate regression approach.FindingsThe empirical study suggests that resource flexibility weakens the positive relationship between bottom-up learning and the speed of strategic change while strengthens the impact of bottom-up learning on the magnitude of strategic change. In addition, coordination flexibility strengthens the positive impact of bottom-up learning on the speed and magnitude of strategic change.Originality/valueThe findings not only provide a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of strategic change, but also offer strong guidance for firms on how to make better use of strategic flexibility in order to benefit from bottom-up learning.
The role of descriptive social norms, organisational norms and personal norms in explaining solid waste management behaviours in workplaces
Authors: Janmaimool Piyapong 
Published: April 2017

Purpose
Waste management behaviours (WMBs) play an important role in minimising metropolitan solid waste generation and reducing the environmental impacts caused by waste disposal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of social norms, organisational norms and personal norms in explaining individuals’ engagement in WMBs, which include waste avoidance, green purchasing, reusing and recycling and waste disposal.

Design/methodology/approach
The metropolitan city of Bangkok, Thailand was selected as a case study – it faces waste management problems caused by a massive increase in waste over the past decade. This study distributed questionnaires to 193 public and private officers residing in the city of Bangkok. Path analyses and a multiple regression analysis were performed to test the effect of each norm and the association of various norms on individuals’ engagement in WMBs.

Findings
The results revealed that organisational norms had the strongest effect (both direct and indirect) on WMBs. Personal norms also had a direct effect on WMBs. In contrast, social norms did not directly influence WMBs; however, they did have an indirect effect on WMBs through organisational norms.

Practical implications
This study suggests that the role of organisational norms should be heavily emphasised in promoting the WMBs of public and private officers.

Originality/value
This study found that the role of organisational norms is the most significant factor influencing WMBs in workplaces. In addition, both provincial and subjective environmental norms in organisations significantly affect WMBs. They should be enhanced in order to promote WMBs in organisations.
Knowledge motives in the cross-border acquisitions
Authors: Mazon Gisele , Moreira-da-Silva Fernando , Ferreira Manuel Portugal , Serra Fernando Ribeiro 
Published: April 2017

PurposeThis qualitative study, which is based on multiple cases, aims to analyze the pattern of acquisitions by Brazilian multinationals, such as Gerdau in the steel industry, Petrobrás in the oil and gas industry and Vale in the mining industry, to infer the likely knowledge motivations underlying the acquisitions of these firms.Design/methodology/approachThe analyses of the three cases, with secondary data collected for the period from 2003 to 2007, classify the acquisitions according to the extent of the exploration or exploitation of resources and in two dimensions: business knowledge and location knowledge, in accordance with Ferreira’s (2005) model based on March (1991) and Chandler (1962).FindingsThe findings showed that the acquisitions by Gerdau, Petrobrás and Vale favored the exploitation of their resources and capabilities developed in the home market more than the exploration of new resources and capabilities. Regarding the ownership acquired, this study failed to observe the likely expected pattern of acquiring a majority stake for sustaining an exploitation strategy or a minority stake for sustaining an exploration strategy.Originality/valueThis study makes three contributions. First, the need to analyze the potential gains of new knowledge acquisition in domestic and cross-border expansion. Second, considering the opportunity to explore new resources and knowledge even for firms in commodity industries. Third, considering how the equity held is a structural solution that needs to be adjusted to the knowledge strategy.
Task-oriented work characteristics, self-efficacy, and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior
Authors: Kao Rui-Hsin 
Published: April 2017

PurposeBorder management, barring illegal foreign workers, and immigrant counseling are three major functions of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) of Taiwan. These functions are composed of traditional “job” as well as social “work” characteristics. In other words, these functions have shifted from a “position”-based job design to an “overall operation”-based work design that incorporates environmental and situational factors. The purpose of this paper is to examine frontline immigration workers in Taiwan in order to determine how the motivational (task-oriented) and social work (social-oriented) characteristics (SWCs) of the immigration work design model influence immigration workers’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs).Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected 312 questionnaires, of which 304 were valid, with 230 completed by men and 74 by women.FindingsThe results revealed that SWCs and collective efficacy at the group level had significantly positive effects on collective efficacy and service-oriented OCB, respectively. Task-oriented work characteristics had positive effects on self-efficacy and thus on individual level service-oriented OCB, and self-efficacy also had positive effects on individual service-oriented OCB. Both SWCs and collective efficacy had a contextual effect on individual-level outcome variables. Furthermore, the combination of SWCs with self-efficacy had cross-level effects on individuals’ service-oriented OCB.Originality/valueThese findings can enhance people’s understanding of how the social and motivational power of work characteristics can encourage employees to exhibit service-oriented OCB. This implies that the NIA can stimulate individual self-motivation and affect group-level efficacy and service-oriented OCB through the environmental context and social relationship characteristics of border affairs brigades (branches).
Financial performance and risk behavior of gender-diversified boards in the Chinese automotive industry
Authors: Horak Sven , Cui Jingjing 
Published: April 2017

Purpose
Recent legislation in Europe and North America encourages women’s participation in corporate boards based on the belief that gender-diversified boards contribute positively to firm performance and increased competitiveness. Contrary to the West, the women’s participation rate in business has been traditionally high in China. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether gender-diverse corporate boards of Chinese automotive firms perform better financially than gender-homogeneous boards.

Design/methodology/approach
By drawing on data from the Chinese Government and Bloomberg, the authors compare and analyze the differences in financial performance (return on equity, asset growth, sales growth) and risk behavior (debt risk, R&D expenditure) of Chinese automotive firms with and without women on their corporate board.

Findings
There is significant evidence that firms with women on the board perform better across all three categories, with the exception of return on equity, for which they found no significant differences among the analyzed firms.

Practical implications
While women’s participation in corporate boards in China is low, the results of this study suggest to policy makers and firms alike to implement measures that support gender-diversified boards in order to take advantage of their potential to increase corporate performance.

Originality/value
So far, the performance of corporate boards of countries with a traditionally high share of female participation in the workforce has rarely been analyzed. Research focusing on the Chinese automotive industry is new and underrepresented, although China is the largest automotive market worldwide and a key industry of the domestic economy. This investigation contributes to the literature stream on board diversity in as well as to industry-related studies. With the example of the Chinese automotive industry, it provides empirical evidence of better performance of firms with gender-diversified boards within the categories tested.
Individual and organizational support
Authors: Brunetto Yvonne , Teo Stephen T.T. , Farr-Wharton Rodney , Shacklock Kate , Shriberg Art 
Published: April 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether management supports police officers adequately, or whether police have to rely on their individual attributes, specifically psychological capital (PsyCap), to cope with red tape and stress. Work outcomes/consequences examined were discretionary power, affective commitment and turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional design using a survey-based, self-report strategy was used to collect data from 588 police officers from USA, who are most engaged with the public. The data were analysed using AMOS and a structural model to undertake structural equation modelling.FindingsTwo significant paths were identified Path 1: management support to red tape to discretionary power to affective commitment and turnover intentions; and Path 2: supervisor relationships to PsyCap to stress to affective commitment and turnover intentions. Further, management support predicted PsyCap, red tape and police stressors. Red tape increased police stressors and turnover intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of self-report surveys is a limitation, causing common methods bias. Using Harmon’s one-factorpost hoctest, the authors were able to provide some assurance that common method bias was of no major concern.Originality/valueAs far as is known, this study is the first to examine, for police officers, how PsyCap impacts upon negative factors (stress and red tape) and enhances positive drivers for employees. Examining the impact of an individual attribute – PsyCap – provides an important piece of the organizational puzzle in explaining the commitment and turnover intentions of police officers. By examining the impact of both organizational and individual factors, there is now more knowledge about the antecedents of police outcomes.
Dispersal and establishment limitation slows plant community recovery in post‐agricultural longleaf pine savannas
Authors: Turley Nash E. , Orrock John L. , Ledvina Joseph A. , Brudvig Lars A. 
Published: April 2017

SummaryAbandoned agricultural lands often have distinct plant communities from areas with no history of agriculture because plant species fail to recolonize. This may be due to dispersal limitation from a lack of seeds, or establishment limitation because of unsuitable environmental conditions. However, few experiments have directly tested how restoration activities may overcome these limitations.We studied longleaf pine savannas in South Carolina abandoned from agriculture >60 years ago that were immediately adjacent to remnant habitats (areas with no history of agriculture). Using 27 sites, we conducted a factorial experiment that sowed seeds of 12 species indicative of remnant communities and conducted restoration thinning of overstorey trees in half of 126, 1‐ha patches to mimic canopy density of natural savannas. We also established vegetation transects to examine if restoration promotes spread of remnant species into post‐agricultural areas.We found strong evidence for dispersal limitation in post‐agricultural areas as over 99% of the occurrences of our focal species were in seed addition plots. Seed additions increased total species richness by 27%.Restoration thinning increased establishment in seed addition plots (measured as richness of sown species) by 126% and increased total richness by 88%. Restoration thinning also increased seed production in remnant habitats by an average of 6506% across our focal species. However, after 4 years, restoration thinning did not facilitate the natural spread of remnant species into adjacent post‐agricultural sites.Synthesis and applications. We show that both dispersal and establishment limitation are key factors causing some plant species to be absent from post‐agricultural sites. Dense canopy conditions limit seed production in remnant habitats and reduce establishment in post agricultural areas. Restoration thinning helps overcome these limitations and should facilitate the natural spread of species from remnant habitats but natural recovery may still be slow. Our results suggest that accelerating the recovery of post‐agricultural habitats will require active restoration that reduces dispersal limitation (seed additions) and reinstates appropriate ecological conditions.
Auckland regional emergency medicine trainee mentoring uptake survey
Authors: Nicholls Gordon Michael (Mike) , Lawrey Emma , Jones Peter 
Published: April 2017

AbstractObjectiveThe primary objective of this study is to quantify how many Auckland region emergency medicine (EM) trainees would like a formal mentoring programme. The secondary objectives were to quantify how many Auckland region EM trainees would like to participate in a formal mentoring programme; to determine trainees’ current understanding of mentoring; how trainees prefer mentors to be allocated; why trainees may want a mentor; what mentees perceive would be good qualities in a mentor; and trainees’ prior experience with mentoring.MethodsOnline survey of EM trainees in the Auckland region in June 2015.ResultsOf 61 potential respondents, 40 (65.6%) respondents replied to the survey. Of the 40, 38 (95%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 82.6–99.5) respondents indicated they would like some form of mentoring system, and of the 38, 25 (65.8%; 95% CI 49.8–78.9) preferred this to be formal. Of the 38, 19 (50%; 95% CI 34.9–65.2) currently wanted assistance obtaining a mentor. Of the 40, 30 (75%; 95% CI 59.6–86.0) are not currently in any form of mentoring relationship. Respondents believed that mentors would be most beneficial in critical incidents, career development and with work/life balance. The attributes participants considered most important in a mentor were respecting confidentiality, being honest and the ability to provide constructive feedback.ConclusionsMany EM trainees in Auckland want a formal mentoring system and would like a mentor. Appropriate mentor–mentee matching through a formalised voluntary system, with adequate mentor training, may enable the Auckland region to develop a suitable mentoring programme for EM trainees.
An Open Source GIS‐Based Decision Support System for Watershed Evaluation of Best Management Practices
Authors: Shao Hui , Yang Wanhong , Lindsay John , Liu Yongbo , Yu Zhiqiang , Oginskyy Anatoliy 
Published: April 2017

AbstractEconomic costs, water quantity/quality benefits, and cost effectiveness of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) at a watershed scale are increasingly examined using integrated economic‐hydrologic models. However, these models are typically complex and not user‐friendly for examining the effects of various BMP scenarios. In this study, an open source geographic information system (GIS)‐based decision support system (DSS), named the watershed evaluation of BMPs (WEBs), was developed for creating BMP scenarios and simulating economic costs and water quantity/quality benefits at farm field, subbasin, and watershed scales. This DSS or WEBs interface integrated a farm economic model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and an optimization model within Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools (GAT), an open source GIS software. The DSS was applied to the 14.3‐km2 Gully Creek watershed, a coastal watershed in southern Ontario, Canada that drains directly into Lake Huron. BMPs that were evaluated included conservation tillage, nutrient management, cover crop, and water and sediment control basins. In addition to assessing economic costs, water quantity/quality benefits, and cost effectiveness of BMPs, the DSS can be also used to examine prioritized BMP types/locations and corresponding economic and water quantity/quality tradeoffs in the study watershed based on environmental targets or budget constraints. Further developments of the DSS including interface transfer to other watersheds are also discussed. Editor's note: This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.
Draft genomes of the corallimorpharians Amplexidiscus fenestrafer and Discosoma sp.
Authors: Wang Xin , Liew Yi Jin , Li Yong , Zoccola Didier , Tambutte Sylvie , Aranda Manuel 
Published: April 2017

AbstractCorallimorpharia are the closest noncalcifying relatives of reef‐building corals. Aside from their popularity among aquarium hobbyists, their evolutionary position between the Actiniaria (sea anemones) and the Scleractinia (hard corals) makes them ideal candidates for comparative studies aiming at understanding the evolution of hexacorallian orders in general and reef‐building corals in particular. Here we have sequenced and assembled two draft genomes for the Corallimorpharia species Amplexidiscus fenestrafer and Discosoma sp. The draft genomes encompass 370 and 445 Mbp, respectively, and encode for 21,372 and 23,199 genes. To facilitate future studies using these resources, we provide annotations for the predicted gene models—not only at gene level, by annotating gene models with the function of the best‐matching homologue, and GO terms when available; but also at protein domain level, where gene function can be better verified through the conservation of the sequence and order of protein domains. Further, we provide an online platform (http://corallimorpharia.reefgenomics.org), which includes a blast interface and a genome browser to facilitate the use of these resources. We believe that these two genomes are important resources for future studies on hexacorallian systematics and the evolutionary basis of their specific traits such as the symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium or the evolution of calcification in reef‐building corals.
Influence of Tanshinone IIA on apoptosis of human esophageal carcinoma Eca‐109 cells and its molecular mechanism
Authors: Zhang Yan , Li Shan , He Hang , Han Qianqian , Wang Baiyan , Zhu Yanqin 
Published: April 2017

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that Tanshinone (Tan) IIA exerts obvious antitumor efficacy; however, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. This study was conducted to identify the influence of Tan IIA on Eca‐109 cell apoptosis, explore its molecular mechanism, and provide a theoretical basis for clinical application.MethodsEca‐109 cells were cultured in vitro and treated with different concentrations of Tan IIA. Morphologic changes were viewed under inverted fluorescence microscope with dual acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining assay. Methyl‐thiazolyl‐tetrazolium and Annexin V propidium iodide assays were respectively used to measure cell viability and apoptosis rate. The protein and messenger (m)RNA expression of binding immunoglobulin protein (BIP), mitochondrial cytochrome c (CytC), and caspase‐9 were detected by Western blot and quantitative real‐time PCR, respectively.ResultsCell viability decreased and the apoptosis rate significantly increased with increasing concentrations of Tan IIA (0, 20, 40, 60 μg/mL), which indicated that Tan IIA inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of Eca‐109 cells in a dose‐dependent manner. Eca‐109 cells treated with 60 μg/mLTan IIA showed typical morphological changes of apoptosis under the inverted microscope. Moreover, compared with the negative control group, protein and mRNA expression of BIP decreased significantly (P < 0.05), whereas protein and mRNA expression of CytC and caspase‐9 increased significantly (P < 0.05).ConclusionTan IIA can induce apoptosis in human esophageal carcinoma Eca‐109 cells by regulating BIP, CytC, and caspase‐9 expression. Endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial‐dependent may be involved in Tan IIA‐induced Eca‐109 cell apoptosis.