bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fecundity selection theory: concepts and evidence
Authors: Pincheira-Donoso Daniel , Hunt John 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTFitness results from the optimal balance between survival, mating success and fecundity. The interactions between these three components of fitness vary importantly depending on the selective context, from positive covariation between them, to antagonistic pleiotropic relationships when fitness increases in one reduce fitness of others. Therefore, elucidating the routes through which selection shapes life history and phenotypic adaptations via these fitness components is of primary significance to understand ecological and evolutionary dynamics. However, while the fitness components mediated by natural (survival) and sexual (mating success) selection have extensively been debated from most possible perspectives, fecundity selection remains considerably less studied. Here, we review the theory, evidence and implications of fecundity selection as a driver of sex-specific adaptive evolution. Based on accumulating literature on the life-history, phenotypic and ecological aspects of fecundity, we (i) suggest that ‘fecundity’ is restricted to refer to brood size per reproductive episode, while ‘annual’ and ‘lifetime fecundity’ should not be used interchangeably with ‘fecundity’ as they represent different life history parameters; (ii) provide a generalized redefinition of fecundity selection that encompasses any traits that influence fecundity in any direction (from high to low) and in either sex; (iii) review the (macro)ecological basis of fecundity selection (e.g., ecological pressures that influence predictable spatial variation in fecundity); (iv) suggest that most ecological theories of fecundity selection should be tested in organisms other than birds; (v) argue that the longstanding fecundity selection hypothesis of female-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) has gained inconsistent support, that strong fecundity selection does not necessarily drive female-biased SSD, and that this form of SSD can be driven by other selective pressures; and (vi) discuss cases in which fecundity selection operates on males.
A collaboration of school administrators and a university faculty to advance school administrator practices using appreciative inquiry
Authors: Calabrese Raymond 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– An appreciative inquiry (AI) collaborative study with 11 school administrators in a highly diverse suburban school district sought to understand if observing and sharing successful school practices/events in a whole group setting led to change in their perceptions, attitudes, and administrative practice. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study took place over a ten-week period with a group of self-selected (voluntary participation) school administrative participants.

Findings
– There were two findings: the AI focus of inquiry on successful practices/events shapes school administrator perceptions, attitudes, and application of craft knowledge to practice; and the school administrators’ sharing of successful practices/events in a whole group setting generated new forms of practice during the ten-week study.

Originality/value
– The findings suggest that reflection and integration of successful practices/events are a source of craft knowledge advancing changes in school administrative practice.
Developing international managers: the contribution of cultural experience to learning
Authors: Townsend Peter , Regan Padraic , Li Liang Liang 
Published: February 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate cultural experience as a learning strategy for developing international managers.Design/methodology/approach– Using an integrated framework, two quantitative studies, based on empirical methodology, are conducted. Study 1, with an undergraduate sample situated in the Asia Pacific, aimed to examine the relationship between cultural experience and intercultural capability (IC), an original theoretical construct representing the critical factors of international managers. Study 2, employing a more culturally experienced postgraduate sample from Ireland, sought to confirm the findings from study 1 and further test the relationship of cultural experience with the factor of cultural adaptation.Findings– Results identify aU-curve relationship of cultural experience and cultural adaptation for inexperienced students (study 1). A more linear, but less significant relationship between the above two with a maximum level of adaptation for more experienced students was found in study 2. This implies that there is a relationship between cultural experience and IC, within the limitations of the sample. However, whilst cultural experience is a major variable in developing IC, findings are that universities and industry training managers need to use a blended learning approach when developing international managers, hence, combining cultural experience (experiential learning) with didactic methods.Originality/value– This is an original theoretical construct representing the critical factors of international managers.
An examination of factors contributing to student satisfaction in Armenian higher education
Authors: Martirosyan Nara 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that affect student satisfaction in college environment in Armenian Higher Educational Institutions (AHEIs).

Design/methodology/approach
– This study used an ex-post facto, non-experimental approach to investigate factors that affected student satisfaction in college environment in AHEIs. Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire from students in nine public and three private institutions located in different rural and urban areas of Armenia. The sample consisted of 372 respondents from 12 institutions that geographically covered the whole country in order to have a comparatively complete picture. Factors investigated in relation to student satisfaction included: demographics, faculty services, academic experience, students support facilities, campus life, and social integration.

Findings
– The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used to analyze the data. Results of ANOVA indicated significant main effects for a number of demographic variables and student satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis indicated relationship between a number of selected satisfaction measurement dimensions and overall student satisfaction. This study was the first attempt to investigate factors that influence student satisfaction in college environment in Armenia.

Research limitations/implications
– Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made to AHEIs for their consideration when addressing the needs of their students and any needed support services.

Originality/value
– This study was the first attempt to investigate factors that influence student satisfaction in college environment in Armenia.
Examining the relationship between the psychological contract and organisational commitment
Authors: Jabeen Fauzia , Behery Mohamed , Abu Elanain Hossam 
Published: February 2015

Purpose– The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the psychological contract, relational psychological contract and transactional psychological contract on organisational commitment as mediated by transactional leadership in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context. The paper also explores the contractual status to determine if the theory remains valid, regardless of the fact whether one is employed as a contingent or permanent worker.Design/methodology/approach– This research made a longitudinal study spanning a 24-week time period. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire prepared in English and Arabic, at three stages representing three visits to the participating companies in the UAE. Pearson’s correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to examine the research hypotheses.Findings– The results show that the psychological contracts (transactional and relational) are positively related to transactional leadership. This study categorizes several consequential relationships between transactional leadership and organisational commitment. It also advocates that transactional leadership has only a fractional mediating role in relation to relational psychological contract, transactional psychological contract and organisational commitment.Practical implications– The findings suggest that practitioners and academics alike should note that the nature of the psychological contract employed will impact upon commitment and retention.Originality/value– This study makes a significant contribution to the body of literature, being the second part of a longitudinal study that aimed at testing the mediating effect of transactional leadership on organisational commitment within the context of the UAE. In the earlier study, the intent was to analyse the role of transformational leadership as a mediator between the psychological contract and organisational commitment. Typically, transformational leadership has been found to partially mediate the above mentioned relationships. In addition, it also advocates that there may be some value in considering the employees’ contractual status with regard to the psychological contract and its impact on organisational commitment.
A review of buyer-supplier relationship typologies: progress, problems, and future directions
Authors: Tangpong Chanchai , Michalisin Michael D. , Traub Rodney D , Melcher Arlyn J. 
Published: February 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to review the existing typologies of buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs) in the literature, to critically assess their dimensions and underlying assumptions, and to propose a more complete BSR typology and future directions for BSR typology research.Design/methodology/approach– This study takes a conceptual approach in highlighting the limitations of existing BSR typologies and synthesizing their key typology-defining variables when proposing an alternative BSR typology.Findings– The proposed BSR typology is based on alternative behavioral assumptions: bounded rationality and choice-determinism, and uses relationalism, supplier dependence and buyer dependence as the typology-defining variables. This BSR typology captures four prominent BSR types in the extant literature (i.e. market/discrete relationship, captive-buyer/supplier-dominant relationship, captive-supplier/buyer-dominant relationship and strategic/bilateral partnership) and four new BSR types developed in this study (i.e. supplier-led collaboration, buyer-led collaboration, competitive/win–lose partnership, and free will/voluntary collaboration).Research limitations/implications– The performance implications of the new BSR types have yet to be empirically tested; however, empirical approaches for future research are discussed.Originality/value– As BSR typology research has been conducted over the years, a thorough review and systematic assessment of the extant research in terms of fundamental assumptions, typology-defining variables, overall progress and limitations becomes an important reflective task in guiding future research efforts toward the collective advancement in this line of inquiry. Departing from the existing literature, this study also uses more realistic BSR assumptions and a more complete set of typology-defining variables in developing an alternative BSR typology, arguably more complete and more theoretically sound than the previous BSR typologies in the literature.
Are salespeople born or made? Biology, personality, and the career satisfaction of salespeople
Authors: Loveland James M , Lounsbury John W , Park Soo-Hee , Jackson Donald W 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between personality traits and both job and career satisfaction among salespeople. The authors also wished to examine the extent to which biologically based personality traits provided insights into job and career satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors used latent profile analysis (LPA) to assess a sample of 299 salespeople along the dimensions of emotional stability, extraversion, work drive, teamwork orientation, customer service orientation, optimism and both job and career satisfaction.

Findings
– The findings revealed two distinct groups, and these groups were markedly different along the biologically based traits of optimism, extraversion, emotional stability and along both job and career satisfaction. The differences across these groups were especially pronounced for career satisfaction.

Practical implications
– Our findings suggest that firms might wish to devote limited resources to improving the skill sets of salespeople with the “right” disposition, rather than attempting to train candidates to cope with the emotional and visceral aspects of sales.

Originality/value
– The relationship between biologically based traits and job/career satisfaction has not yet been examined. Moreover, the use of LPA provides interesting insights that regression or structural equation modeling-based approaches would not.
Augmented borders: Big Data and the ethics of immigration control
Authors: Ajana Btihaj 
Published: February 2015

Purpose– Investments in the technologies of borders and their securitisation continue to be a focal point for many governments across the globe. This paper is concerned with a particular example of such technologies, namely, “Big Data” analytics. In the past two years, the technology of Big Data has gained a remarkable popularity within a variety of sectors, ranging from business and government to scientific and research fields. While Big Data techniques are often extolled as the next frontier for innovation and productivity, they are also raising many ethical and political issues. The aim of this paper is to consider some of these issues and provide a critical reflection on the implications of using Big Data for the governance of borders.Design/methodology/approach– The author draws on the example of the new Big Data solution recently developed by IBM for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. The system, which relies on data collected from Passenger Name Records, aims to facilitate and automate mechanisms of profiling enable the identification of “high-risk” travellers. It is argued that the use of such Big Data techniques risks augmenting the function and intensity of borders.Findings– The main concerns addressed here revolve around three key elements, namely, the problem of categorisation, the projective and predictive nature of Big Data techniques and their approach to the future and the implications of Big Data on understandings and practices of identity.Originality/value– By exploring these issues, the paper aims to contribute to the debates on the impact of information and communications technology-based surveillance in border management.
Using technology to draw borders: fundamental rights for the Smart Borders initiative
Authors: Hendow Maegan , Cibea Alina , Kraler Albert 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine the primary fundamental rights concerns related to biometrics and their use in automated border controls (ABCs), as well as how these issues converge in the European Commission’s Smart Borders proposal.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper draws on extensive background research and qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in 2013 for the European Union (EU) FP-7 project “FastPass – A harmonized, modular reference system for all European automatic border crossing points”.

Findings
– The Smart Borders proposal not only compounds the individual concerns related to the use of biometrics in border controls and automatisation thereof, but also has serious issues of its own, premier among which is the imposition of a two-tier border control system.

Social implications
– The paper is a catalyst for open debate on the fundamental questions of how we got to this point and where do we want to go. It questions the process by which the increased use of IT in border controls has become the norm and policy trend in Europe, and discusses where the limits could be drawn from a fundamental rights perspective. In particular, it warns against the institutionalisation of a two-tier border control system among third-country nationals.

Originality/value
– Little attention is given to the fundamental rights concerns raised for EU and non-EU citizens as related to biometrics and their use in ABCs, and how these issues are reproduced in the Smart Borders proposal. The paper fills this gap by taking a bottom-up approach: examining the implications of individual elements of the proposal to see their impact on the broader policy.
Commentary: towards more responsibility in ICT
Authors: Otrel-Cass Kathrin 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this article is to provide a commentary to the conceptual article by Norberto Patrignani and Diane Whitehouse, The Clean Side of Slow Tech. This article explores what can be easily overlooked in Information Communication Technology (ICT): the uncomfortable truth relating to the production, use and disposal of modern communication technology.

Design/methodology/approach
– In it, the author picks up on the main ideas that were argued, specifically that there is a need to take a closer look at the production, use and disposal of modern communication technology.

Findings
– Connecting resource production, use and disposal and its affect on climate change will require those who are in the position to make changes to come up with solutions that also consider values, beliefs and norms that lead to particular types of behaviour.

Research limitations/implications
– ICT has had an enormous impact on people’s lives. However, there has been primarily focus on its life-accelerating attributes. Slowing down the process of production may open up possibilities for sustainable ICT development.

Practical implications
– The commentary, combined with Patrignani and Whitehouse’s paper may provide a resource for those responsible in training future ICT professionals.

Social implications
– If today’s society, and this includes users and producers of ICT, intends to go beyond the mere rhetoric about sustainability, individuals will need to take on a new kind of responsibility that covers the entire life cycle of technology.

Originality/value
– This commentary is intended to provide an additional viewpoint to the topic of sustainable ICT production.
ICT and sustainability: skills and methods for dialogue and policy making
Authors: Kavathatzopoulos Iordanis 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present an overview and to discuss the following issues: most often, discussions about Information and communication technology (ICT) sustainability focus on environmental issues; however, there are other aspects referring to ICT internal sustainability and to its role as a tool in managing general sustainability issues. The way to handle ICT sustainability issues is also significant.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper discusses and investigates various aspects of ICT sustainability, and of methods to handle these issues and make decisions.

Findings
– Classical philosophy and psychological empirical research on decision-making demonstrate the way to take care of ICT sustainability issues. This way is philosophizing, which has to be trained and supported for people and organizations involved to acquire the necessary skills and to use suitable methods.

Originality/value
– The paper highlights other significant aspects of ICT sustainability rather than the environmental impact alone. It also proposes focus on the way ICT sustainability issues are handled rather than focus on normative or ideological aspects of it.
Smart technology classroom in the stacks: promoting free government apps in an academic library
Authors: Ormes Dorothy 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– This purpose of this article is to suggest that it is possible and desirable to use iPads as a teaching tool in a dedicated classroom in the stacks at an academic library. It examines recent research on smart device use among college students and outlines a pilot program that was developed at Southern Oregon University in the Government Information Department.

Design/methodology/approach
– The article includes a literature review of recent research that has been done about smart technology usage in the library and highlights information gained by a hands-on approach in a pilot program.

Findings
– The use of smart technology in a classroom in the stacks is an effective way to engage students in the research process. Using free government apps is a no cost solution to covering a variety of topics and disciplines. Students can gain new insights in how to make their smart technology work for them while conducting research. A supplemental iPad check-out program can enable students to have new meaningful interactions with the library. However, technology does present its own set of problems that can derail the experience in unexpected ways.

Originality/value
– Free government apps are useful learning tools for college students. These tools can be applied in any classroom where students and professor are equipped with smart devices. The classroom described is unique in that it combines the hard copy materials of the library and the use of the technology to immerse students in a total experience of searching for specific government information resources in the stacks area where the physical documents are housed.
“Through the looking glass: envisioning new library technologies” securing your digital library with encryption
Authors: Fernandez Peter 
Published: February 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to provide context for understanding why encryption is important and provide some examples of applications designed to make it easier than ever to control who has access to the information transmitted by the technology used.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper provides an overview of the topic.

Findings
– It is important for libraries to take an active role in understanding the encryption technology being provided to their patrons and used by their staff. It can be easily assumed that information held by these technologies is secure in ways that it is not.

Originality/value
– Information that is transmitted online is almost always done so in a way that can be easily intercepted. The easiest way to keep it secure is not to avoid having it be intercepted, but to encrypt it so that it is unintelligible when it is intercepted.