老牌数据供应商的新活力

律商联讯集团（Lexis Nexis）是最早的网络型内容和数据供应商之一。上世纪70年代初开始,律商联讯集团曾是发布法规信息和新闻档案领域创新者的代名词,但是到了90年代,它却成为陈腐落后的象征,此时,彭博等深谙互联网秘诀的数据公司,通过更及时的信息传送、更快捷的网络登录和更出色的搜索工具,在技术上让律商联讯自叹弗如。     

Shortcuts in complex engineering systems: a principal-agent approach to risk management

In this article, we examine the effects of shortcuts in the development of engineered systems through a principal-agent model. We find that occurrences of illicit shortcuts are closely related to the incentive structure and to the level of effort that the agent is willing to expend from the beginning of the project to remain on schedule. Using a probabilistic risk analysis to determine the risks of system failure from these shortcuts, we show how a principal can choose optimal settings (payments, penalties, and inspections) that can deter an agent from cutting corners and maximize the principal's value through increased agent effort. We analyze the problem for an agent with limited liability. We consider first the case where he is risk neutral; we then include the case where he is risk averse.     

Human Interindividual Variability in Susceptibility to Airborne Particles

Part of the explanation for the persistent epidemiological findings of associations between mortality and morbidity with relatively modest ambient exposures to airborne particles may be that some people are much more susceptible to particle-induced responses than others. This study assembled a database of quantitative observations of interindividual variability in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters likely to affect particle response. The pharmacodynamic responses studied included data drawn from epidemiologic studies of doses of methacholine, flour dust, and other agents that induce acute changes in lung function. In general, the amount of interindividual variability in several of these pharmacodynamic response parameters was greater than the variability in pharmacokinetic (breathing rate, deposition, and clearance) parameters. Quantitatively the results indicated that human interindividual variability of breathing rates and major pharmacokinetic parameters-total deposition and tracheobronchial clearance-were in the region of Log(GSD) = 0.1 to 0.2 (corresponding to geometric standard deviations of 10(.1)-10(.2) or 1.26-1.58). Deposition to the deep lung (alveolar region) appeared to be somewhat more variable: Log(GSD) of about 0.3 (GSD of about 2). Among pharmacodynamic parameters, changes in FEV1 in response to ozone and metabisulfite (an agent that is said to act primarily on neural receptors in the lung) were in the region of Log(GSD) of 0.2 to 0.4. However, similar responses to methacholine, an agent that acts on smooth muscle, seemed to have still more variability (0.4 to somewhat over 1.0, depending on the type of population studied). Similarly high values were suggested for particulate allergens. Central estimates of this kind of variability, and the close correspondence of the data to lognormal distributions, indicate that 99.9th percentile individuals are likely to respond at doses that are 150 to 450-fold less than would be needed in median individuals. It seems plausible that acute responses with this amount of variability could form part of the mechanistic basis for epidemiological observations of enhanced mortality in relation to ambient exposures to fine particles.     

Contextual leadership,transformational leadership and the performance of international innovation seeking alliances

In this paper, we examined aspects of contextual leadership [Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G., & Jauch, L. R. (2002). Toward a contextual theory of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 797–837] and transformational leadership [Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press] by alliance heads and by executives in the sponsoring firms for a sample of innovation seeking U.S./Japanese alliances in research-intensive sectors. We identified three aspects of performance (a) alliance innovation, (b) the strategic contributions to the U.S. sponsor and (c) the strategic contributions to the Japanese sponsor. We found that (a) knowledge/ information based (contextual dimensions) leadership by the alliance head was associated with higher innovation and strategic contributions to the sponsors and (b) transformational leadership by sponsoring executives was dysfunctional for alliance innovation but contributed positively to the strategic contribution the alliance provided a sponsor and, (c) the linkage between leadership by the alliance head and performance was much more important for some types of alliance governance (administrative) structures than others. That is, we argue that appropriate leadership is embedded in its context.     

Leadership in complex organizations

This paper asks how complexity theory informs the role of leadership in organizations. Complexity theory is a science of complexly interacting systems; it explores the nature of interaction and adaptation in such systems and how they influence such things as emergence, innovation, and fitness. We argue that complexity theory focuses leadership efforts on behaviors that enable organizational effectiveness, as opposed to determining or guiding effectiveness. Complexity science broadens conceptualizations of leadership from perspectives that are heavily invested in psychology and social psychology (e.g., human relations models) to include processes for managing dynamic systems and interconnectivity. We develop a definition of organizational complexity and apply it to leadership science, discuss strategies for enabling complexity and effectiveness, and delve into the relationship between complexity theory and other currently important leadership theories. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible implications for research strategies in the social sciences.     

Covariance structure selection in general mixed models

This article describes a unified approach to variance modeling and inference in the context of a general form of the normal-theory linear mixed model. The primary variance modeling objects are parameterized covari-ance structures, examples being diagonal, compound-symmetry, unstructured, timeseries, and spatial. These structures can enter in two different places in the general mixed model, and the combination of one or both of these places with the variety of structures provides a rich class of variance models. The approach is likelihood-based, and involves the use of both maximum likelihood and restricted maximum likelihood. Two examples provide illustration.     

That Unwanted Feeling: A Psychodynamic Study of Disappointment in Organizations

This paper explores the emotion of disappointment in organizations and develops a new line of theorizing inspired by psychoanalytic object‐relations theory. Existing literature frames disappointment as a threat to organizational effectiveness, as both a response and an anticipation of failure and as an emotion that needs to be managed in order to prevent it from damaging organizational morale and performance. This only captures part of the complexity of disappointment and leaves unexplored its potential contribution to organizational and individual learning and even creativity. The paper develops a theoretical framework which depicts disappointment in three configurations or positions, and it establishes the potential of disappointment acting as an integrative emotion within organizations. The framework accounts for an apparent contradiction in organizational members' experience of disappointment – that it is, at the same time, seen as ‘of little concern’ to individuals, and yet viewed as capable of undermining stability and destroying positive feelings. The paper shows how disappointment is connected to the dynamics of blame in organizations but, when fully appreciated, can offer a way of moving beyond these dynamics by recognizing partial failure within an organization and turning it into the basis for organizational learning.     

Expanded medical home model works for children in foster care

The Illinois Child Welfare Department implemented a statewide health care system to ensure that children in foster care obtain quality health care by providing each child with a medical home. This study demonstrates that the Medical Home model works for children in foster care providing better health outcomes in higher immunization rates.These children used the health care system more effectively and cost-effective as reflected in the higher utilization rates of primary care and well-child visits and lower utilization of emergency room care for children with chronic conditions.     

Understanding and Facilitating Career Development of People of Appalachian Culture: An Integrated Approach

The literature on career development for people of Appalachian culture is sparse. This article reviews cultural values of Appalachians and proposes an innovative career intervention model to best serve people of this culture. The model integrates the concepts of the social cognitive career development approach (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994) and ecological counseling principles (R. K. Conyne & E. P. Cook, 2004). As this model demonstrates, providing contextual and cultural accommodation is critical in order to gain the trust and permission to work with people of Appalachian culture.     

Prometheus by the Bay: Hollywood and tech capitalism in Silicon Valley

A sequence of recent science-fiction films set in the San Francisco Bay Area suggests that Silicon Valley corporations have become a major concern for Hollywood. These films present Silicon Valley capitalism in thrall to a technological experimentation that prompts disastrous outcomes, which the films collectively argue emerges from the corporations' drive for profit and ignorance of the precautionary principle. Yet Hollywood's response to Silicon Valley involves the valorizing of a kinder, less rapacious capitalism than that of Silicon Valley, a position that prevents a thorough critique of a major challenger to its position within our culture.