bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The academic voice in English and Czech higher education quality
Authors: Mertova Patricie , Webster Len 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis paper sets out to report on a research project investigating the academic voice in higher education quality in the UK and the Czech Republic. It aims to describe the origins and reasons for introducing quality monitoring and assurance into higher education, showing the differences and impacts on higher education quality in England and the Czech Republic, including the current practices and presenting the concerns and issues voiced by the academics and higher education leaders in both higher education systems.Design/methodology/approachThe research utilised a critical event narrative inquiry method, which focuses on issues of complexity and human‐centredness in studied phenomena. In this way the method addresses issues that are frequently overlooked by quantitative research methods. It is argued that, by extracting “critical events,” the method is more efficient in dealing with large amounts of data, which often result from the use of qualitative research methods. In the presented research, “critical events” voicing important issues and concerns in higher education quality are extracted from stories of UK and Czech academics and higher education leaders.FindingsThrough extracting “critical events” in the professional practice of academics and higher education leaders, the research uncovered some similar and some culture‐specific issues voiced by Czech and UK academics and higher education leaders. The culture‐specific issues were revealed mainly in the Czech higher education context.Practical implicationsThe research uncovered a number of issues and concerns which were overlooked in the current higher education quality practices in both the higher education systems. The paper does not present all the recommendations for educational practice and further research. These may be consulted in Mertova's Quality in Higher Education: Stories of English and Czech Academics and Higher Education Leader.Originality/valueThe research applied a critical event narrative inquiry methodology, which is a novel qualitative research method focusing on extracting “critical events” in the professional practice of individuals, in this case academics and higher education leaders. Even though the methodology was developed by Webster and Mertova, the study has further refined it and applied it in the field of higher education quality.
Protean organizations
Authors: Cabrera Elizabeth F. 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to understand women's careers better in order to help organizations make changes to increase female retention. Two specific questions are addressed: Are women adopting a protean career orientation by becoming career self‐agents?; and Are women's career decisions guided by the kaleidoscope values of challenge, balance, and authenticity? Results are used to discuss changes that organizations can make to better attract and retain female talent.Design/methodology/approachOpen‐ended semi‐structured interviews were conducted by telephone with 25 women graduates of a top ranked international business school located in the USA who had voluntarily left the workforce at some time in their career and had since returned to work.FindingsResults show that 17 of the women interviewed followed a protean career orientation when they returned to the workforce, finding part‐time or reduced‐hours positions or completely changing careers. Of the women, five returned to work following a traditional career orientation and three chose to return to a job rather than reinitiating their careers. The vast majority of the women who adopted a protean career were driven to do so in order to satisfy their need for balance in their lives. Overall, eight of the women expressed a need for authenticity in their careers and only two mentioned a desire for challenge. Many of them felt they had already satisfied their need for challenge earlier in their career, as the KCM suggests.Practical implicationsAs with protean careers, protean organizations adapt to evolving circumstances. Companies that recognize and respond to the need to reshape how work gets done and how careers are built will achieve a competitive advantage by attracting and retaining valuable female talent. Organizations should shift their focus from an emphasis on face time to an emphasis on results, giving employees more control over how, when, and where they work. They also need to move away from the traditional career model that emphasizes full‐time, continuous employment and instead embrace arc‐of‐the‐career flexibility that allows women to adopt a protean orientation, managing their own careers in order to align them with their personal values.Originality/valueThe paper helps to explain the motives behind professional women' career moves and makes suggestions on how organizations can better attract and retain female talent.
Women's contributions to American public relations, 1940‐1970
Authors: Suzanne Horsley J. 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis paper seeks to map the employment of female professionals to create a collective biography of women in US public relations from 1940‐1970. It aims to suggest that women were active leaders in many areas of public relations, despite the exclusion of women from most historical accounts.Design/methodology/approachThe author completed a content analysis of a women's professional directory published in 1970. This directory summarizes women's accomplishments during this critical time period in the development of the public relations profession. The sample of 520 entries was analyzed for demographics and career statistics in relation to social perceptions that prevailed during this timeframe.FindingsThe paper offers empirical insights into the work of female public relations practitioners. It quantifies employment in managerial and technical positions in a variety of industries, charts the trends in employment, and offers support for theoretical explanations for why women were essentially invisible in public relations publications and historical records.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings from this research are limited in that they are based on a directory full of self‐reported success stories. Therefore, additional research is needed before these results can be generalized to the population under study.Originality/valueThis paper creates a collective biography of women in public relations that complements the research that has been done on a few individual women. This research contributes to a more robust explanation of the development of US public relations.
Compliance and AML in Belgium: a booming sector with growing pains
Authors: Verhage Antoinette 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the paper will map Belgian compliance officers' practices and challenges, and second, it makes an attempt to assess the effectiveness of their input in the anti‐money laundering (AML) chain in Belgium: what are actual results of the fight against money laundering?Design/methodology/approachThe research starts from a criminological point of view, studying the preventive AML‐policy by focusing on the compliance function in banks. In order to study this preventive approach more concretely, a survey was sent to Belgian compliance officers, asking about their practices. Second, the available statistics on 13 years of AML in Belgium were studied.FindingsThe function of compliance officer implies a number of challenges or “growing pains”; problematic access to information, lack of feedback from the authorities, limited investigative means. Furthermore, although the investments of private organisations in AML have been substantial, the outcome of the AML chain seems modest.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper reflects the first phase of an on‐going research (2006‐2009). The results presented here are therefore preliminary.Originality/valueBelgium implemented a regulatory framework in 2001, obliging the installment of a compliance function within banks. The value of this research lies in the fact that this booming professional group has never been subject of research before, even though they play a crucial role in AML in particular and crime fighting in general. It is therefore of great importance to study compliance officers' views, practices, and opinions in order to get a grip on this new type of “policing”.
High‐performance workplace practices for Greek companies
Authors: Vlachos Ilias P. 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether are there human resources (HR) practices that influence firm performance of companies operating in the Mediterranean region and, specifically, in Greece. Existing literature comes mostly from American studies, leaving a research gap what happens when HR practices are applied by companies in the Mediterranean region.Design/methodology/approachThe author reviewed the existent literature and examined six HR practices, which were initially proposed by Pfeffer. Using a self‐reported questionnaire, the author surveyed managers in Greece. The author used univariate and hierarchical multiple regression models to analyse the data.FindingsAnalysis of data provides overall support for all HR practices except of job security. Selective hiring and compensation policy were significant predictors for all performance variables.Research limitations/implicationsResults from studies on a specific industry may have limitations to generalising to other sectors of the economy. More research is necessary to examine HR practices not covered by this study.Practical implicationsThis study has practical implications particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that proliferate in Mediterranean countries. SMEs often find it difficult to see all the connections between antecedents (such as recruiting, compensating and training personnel) and consequences (such as turnover, financial performance). This study shows that there are high‐performance workplace practices that clearly pay off and thus, it is worthy investing on them.Originality/valueThis research is valuable to Mediterranean companies by highlighting the role of practices such as selective hiring and compensation policy in order to increase the overall firm performance.
Online experience as a lever of customer involvement in NPD
Authors: Lamberti Lucio , Noci Giuliano 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis work aims at exploring the approaches to online experience management aimed at enhancing customer involvement. The literature review and the empirical exercise aim at identifying a research agenda on the topic and at providing preliminary evidences.Design/methodology/approachTwo in‐depth case studies in companies operating in the toy sector in Italy were conducted.FindingsThe findings suggest that online experience management can be considered by companies an important lever for getting customer involvement in NPD; moreover the evidences show that the experiential stimuli to provide may vary according to the stage of product development and to the characteristics of the target. Also the manufacturer's culture may drive some diversity in the stimuli provided. In detail, the Mediterranean company seem to look at generating group experiences to exploit the creative potential of collectivism more than the Anglo‐Saxon one.Research limitations/implicationsThe discussion highlights a series of research propositions for future research aimed at improving the understatement of the problem. As for the limitations, only two cases in a single sector have been analysed, and there is a lack of concrete outcomes about the economic performances of the online experience strategies adopted by the companies, even if some positive correlation between successful online experience management and innovation rate of success seem to emerge.Practical implicationsThe findings suggested some managerial implications for managing online customer experience to enhance customer involvement in NPD.Originality/valueThe paper provides empirical evidences in a field extremely debated at a theoretical level over the last few years, but extremely poor in terms of fact‐based research; moreover it suggests areas of investigation for future research.
I'm the new head of HR, now what? The first 90 days
Authors: Ulrich Dave , Smallwood Norm , Younger Jon 
Published: May 2009

PurposeHR leaders face a range of challenges on assuming responsibility for the function in their organizations. This paper aims to argue that if managed well, the actions of HR leaders over the first 90 days offer a significant opportunity to put the fundamentals for success in place; in turn, badly managed transitions can hurt the leader's effectiveness at building key relationships, defining the strategic agenda, assessing needs for improvement and developing the plan for creating value for the business.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on the authors' experience with dozens of new heads of HR. It synthesizes this work to offer a practical framework for action and specific tips on how HR leaders can make the most of the first 90 days.FindingsIt is shown that as a new leader, one has a unique opportunity to shape a new agenda for the HR department.Originality/valueThe paper is written as if the authors are coaching the reader through this transition by asking the right questions that increase the chance of success.
Return/risk profile focused ratios for property investments
Authors: Keeris Willem G. , Langbroek Ruben A.R. 
Published: May 2009

PurposeIn order to take properly founded investment decisions, the anticipated value creation of a property investment should be identified by the investor. Because usual methods of analysis for determining the return/risk profile produce an inaccurate and incomplete picture, the purpose of this paper is to propose a number of improvements.Design/methodology/approachBy examining the framework on which most used statistical risk analyses are based, improvements can be made, based on known, but not commonly used approaches. These improvements give a more satisfying risk analysis result, in which chances are also made visible.FindingsMain principle of use is the downside risk approach, which only takes into account the negative deviations from self‐determined return criteria. The analysis is then based on four new created ratios, which collectively provide a better and more complete picture of the return/risk profile as a whole.Practical implicationsThe ratios address risk from a downside perspective, but they also take into account the chances for investors to meet the return criteria, which provide the upside potential for the investments. Furthermore, the ratios express risk in terms of real volatility of the actual return. And last, they provide improvement of the entire return/risk profile, which therefore highlights the value creation achieved by the management.Originality/valueBy using the proposed ratios, risks and chances associated with property investments can be better quantified, thus producing a return/risk profile that paints a more realistic picture of the degree of value creation for investors.
The performance implications of temporal orientation and information technology in organization‐environment synergy
Authors: Dibrell Clay , Davis Peter S. , Craig Justin B. 
Published: May 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to provide new evidence regarding the firm performance implications of using temporal orientation (time pacing) and information technology (IT) to align an organization with its task environment.Design/methodology/approachUsing questionnaire data provided by top management team members, the results indicate that time‐based strategies (i.e. time pacing) and IT mediate the effects of environmental disruptions on performance. To validate the scales and to test the hypothesized model of relationships, the study employs structural equation modeling through LISREL 8.52, as it is able to examine both the measurement and structural model simultaneously while including individual errors for the respective parameters.FindingsThe results suggest that time pacing should be used in association with IT, as time pacing had a much stronger relationship to environmental disruptions than did IT. This finding supports that a time pacing orientation is effective at helping managers react to disruptions in their task environment. In relation to firm performance, IT was directly linked to firm performance; whereas time pacing was only indirectly associated with firm performance.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that the application of time pacing strategies enables managers to increase firm performance via IT. The results therefore suggest that managers should not assess their use of temporally‐based mechanisms (e.g. time pacing, IT temporality) and IT in isolation, but rather consider them in conjunction. This recommendation is consistent with findings elsewhere that components of strategy may need to be cohesive and integrative and require a supportive firm structure if they are to have their greatest effects on firm performance.Originality/valueThe study extends the research on temporal strategies and IT as mechanisms for offsetting environmental pressures and improving firm performance. It alerts managers to the notion that time pacing will enable them to generate improved firm performance and competitive advantage, through the synchronistic use of IT.
Protective effects of a superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetic compound against paraquat pneumotoxicity in rat lung
Authors: SHOPOVA Veneta L. , DANCHEVA Violeta Y. , SALOVSKY Pencho T. , STOYANOVA Angelina M. 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACTBackground and objective: EUK‐134 is one of the most promising of the superoxide dismutase (SOD)/catalase mimetic compounds. The antioxidant effects of EUK‐134 were tested in a rat model of paraquat pneumotoxicity.Methods: Male Wistar rats (n = 72) were divided into three groups: group 1, controls; group 2, paraquat alone; group 3, paraquat + EUK‐134. Paraquat dichloride was administeredper osat a dose of 80 mg/kg. EUK‐134 was injected intraperitoneally at 10 mg/kg 2 h before the paraquat and again 4 h later at 5 mg/kg.Results: On days 1, 3 and 5 after treatment with paraquat alone the LDH activity increased (P = 0.0001,P = 0.00001 andP = 0.03, respectively), and the total protein content increased (P = 0.00002,P = 0.001 andP = 0.01, respectively). The levels of acid phosphatase (AcP) in BAL fluid increased on days 1 and 3 (P = 0.006 andP = 0.04). In lung homogenates paraquat alone increased SOD activity on day 1 and decreased it on days 3 and 5. Combined treatment with paraquat and EUK‐134 elevated LDH activity on day 3 (significantly less than paraquat alone) and day 5, elevated the total protein content on day 5 only, and did not change AcP activity. The combination of both agents did not alter SOD activity and decreased catalase activity on day 5 significantly less than treatment with paraquat alone (P = 0.05).Conclusions: EUK‐134, a superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetic compound decreased the pneumotoxic effect of paraquat in rats.
Developing the scope of practice and education for advanced practice nurses in Finland
Authors: Fagerström L. 
Published: May 2009

Background:  The reorganization of Finnish healthcare services has required a restructuring of the areas of responsibility between healthcare professionals.Aim:  To describe the need for Advanced Practice Nurses in Finland and the development process of a Master's programme in Health Promotion, Advanced Clinical Care.Methods:  The study consisted of a survey of nurse managers (24) and focus group interviews with clinical nurse specialists (46).Findings:  The expanded role includes advanced clinical skills and responsibility for health prevention and promotion, education, supervision, leadership, research and development.Conclusions:  The legislation, scope and models have to be supported and further developed to promote the full scope of advanced practice.
The Introduction of Works Councils in German Establishments — Rent Seeking or Rent Protection?
Authors: Jirjahn Uwe 
Published: May 2009

AbstractSome recent empirical studies seem to suggest that German works councils engage in rent‐seeking activities rather than in the creation of joint establishment surplus. However, those cross‐sectional studies do not address the issue of causation. We address this issue by investigating the factors that influence the employees' decision to introduce a works council in their establishment. Councils are more likely to be adopted in establishments with a very poor sales situation and poor employment growth. They are also more likely to be adopted in establishments where management does not pursue an expansive market strategy. Altogether, our results support the hypothesis that employees introduce works councils to protect the quasi‐rents they have created by their efforts and human capital investments.
The Direction of Union Mergers in the United States: The Rise of Conglomerate Unionism
Authors: Moody Kim 
Published: May 2009

AbstractTrade union mergers have become common throughout the industrial world. In the United States, since the late 1970s, these have become increasingly multi‐jurisdictional. Beginning in the 1990s, the trend has been dominated by five ‘conglomerate’ unions, who have embraced this as a strategy for growth and increased effectiveness. This article will examine the roots of this ‘conglomerate’ direction and quantitatively assess the claims for greater effectiveness in finances, organizing, and collective bargaining. The tentative conclusion is that while resources and policy matter, the conglomerate merger strategy of these unions has not improved any of these functions either over time or in comparison to other unions that have put less emphasis on multi‐jurisdictional mergers.
Increased Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in a Long-Term Field Experiment via Application of Organic Amendments to a Semiarid Degraded Soil
Authors: del Mar Alguacil Maria , Díaz-Pereira Elvira , Caravaca Fuensanta , Fernández Diego A. , Roldán Antonio 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACTIn this study, we tested whether communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi associated with roots of plant species forming vegetative cover as well as some soil parameters (amounts of phosphatase and glomalin-related soil protein, microbial biomass C and N concentrations, amount of P available, and aggregate stability) were affected by different amounts (control, 6.5 kg m−2, 13.0 kg m−2, 19.5 kg m−2, and 26.0 kg m−2) of an urban refuse (UR) 19 years after its application to a highly eroded, semiarid soil. The AM fungal small-subunit (SSU) rRNA genes were subjected to PCR, cloning, single-stranded conformation polymorphism analysis, sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses. One hundred sixteen SSU rRNA sequences were analyzed, and nine AM fungal types belonging toGlomusgroups A and B were identified: three of them were present in all the plots that had received UR, and six appeared to be specific to certain amendment doses. The community of AM fungi was more diverse after the application of the different amounts of UR. The values of all the soil parameters analyzed increased proportionally with the dose of amendment applied. In conclusion, the application of organic wastes enhanced soil microbial activities and aggregation, and the AM fungal diversity increased, particularly when a moderate dose of UR (13.0 kg m−2) was applied.