Risk assessment for handling hazardous substances within the European industry: Available methodologies and research streams

After the Seveso disaster occurred more than 40 years ago, there has been an increasing awareness of the potential impacts that similar accident events can occur in a wide range of process establishments, where the handling and production of hazardous substances pose a real threat to society and the environment. In these industrial sites denominated “Seveso sites,” the urgent need for an effective strategy emerged markedly to handle hazardous activities and to ensure safe conditions. Since then, the main challenging research issues have focused on how to prevent such accident events and how to mitigate their consequences leading to the development of many risk assessment methodologies. In recent years, researchers and practitioners have tried to provide useful overviews of the existing risk assessment methodologies proposing several reviews. However, these reviews are not exhaustive because they are either dated or focus only on one specific topic (e.g., liquefied natural gas, domino effect, etc.). This work aims to overcome the limitations of the current reviews by providing an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the risk assessment methodologies for handling hazardous substances within the European industry. In particular, we have focused on the current techniques for hazards and accident scenarios identification, as well as probability and consequence analyses for both onshore and offshore installations. Thus, we have identified the research streams that have characterized the activities of researchers and practitioners over the years, and we have then presented and discussed the different risk assessment methodologies available concerning the research stream that they belong to.     

Exploring the motivation and willingness of self-initiated expatriates,in the civil engineering industry,when considering employment opportunities in Qatar

This paper provides empirical and contextual insight into the complexity of Self-Initiated Expatriates’ (SIEs) experiences in a unique setting. Factors that influence SIEs in the civil engineering industry, when considering overseas employment in Qatar, are identified and considered. Drawing comparison to organizational expatriates (OEs), this paper uses semi-structured interviews conducted with professionals from the civil engineering and construction industries. The research surfaced that different factors interconnect to affect individuals’ decisions about overseas employment. Three factors, specifically; location appeal, host country as an employment setting and effect of expatriation on the family, appear to be more influential to participants when the proposed destination is Qatar.     

Managing general managers: Control and motivation at the top

A study of control and motivation processes taking place at the top levels of economic organizations in Poland was extended to analogous processes in American corporations. The psychologically based processes (appraisal, incentives) were shown to be similar in both systems. The control processes differed, revealing strong linkages to broader economic, political and cultural contexts. The findings demonstrate why borrowing the structural solutions fails, and indicate a need for comparative studies of organizations, which take into account the macro determinants of organizational activity.     

Contrasting different philosophies of leader motivation: Altruism versus egoism

In this series of letters, Avolio and Locke compare and contrast their different views on leadership motivation, considering how selfish and self-sacrificing altruistic behavior influence leaders and follower motivation and performance. Locke bases his main arguments in both letters on the premise that leaders should act and think in a rational way, with selfish interest as the basis for action. By accomplishing their selfish interests, leaders will exhibit their highest principles and performance. Avolio argues that Locke's view on selfish interest is simply too idealistic. Since leadership is seen as being in the eye of the beholder, there is a point where all of the rational decision making in the world does not change the subjective views followers have of their leaders. Moreover, there are numerous situations where everyone's self- or selfish interests cannot be satisfied and it is in those situations that the assumptions of egoistic leadership appear to breakdown. Their debate leads to some interesting suggestions for future research comparing these two divergent views of leader motivation.     

Improve Board Effectiveness: the Need for Incentives

Roberts, McNulty and Stiles (2005) focus on the attitudes and behaviours of non-executive directors in their recommendations for improving board effectiveness. This paper addresses the importance of providing incentives for non-executives in order to improve board effectiveness. It first points out that the current norms and practices in corporate governance suggest that, without strong incentives, non-executive directors are unlikely to become engaged in corporate governance, to challenge executive decision, and to remain independent of executive influences. It then proposes that, for non-executive directors to develop the attitudes and behaviors recommended by Roberts, McNulty and Stiles, it is important to require them own a significant amount of company stocks over a long period of time. It also addresses some concerns regarding the use of stock ownership to improve the effectiveness of non-executive directors in corporate governance.     

Trainee programme reactions and work performance: the moderating role of intrinsic motivation

This study investigated the moderating role of intrinsic motivation on the relationship between trainee programme reactions and work performance among trainees enrolled in formal trainee programmes. The results from a cross-sectional survey among 114 trainees representing three Norwegian service organizations showed that the relationships between perception of the trainee programme and facets of self-reported work performance were positive only for trainees low in intrinsic motivation. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Individual and situational correlates of motivation for skills upgrading: an empirical study

The present research examines the tenability of a number of factors thought to precede an individual's motivation for skills upgrading. Because motivation for skills upgrading is instrumental to training success and is highly malleable, knowing the factors that precede motivation for skills upgrading would help managers and policy makers a great deal in formulating strategies to raise the competitiveness of the workforce. We derive several testable hypotheses from the existing literature and empirically verify the selected antecedents of motivation for skills upgrading. Results based on responses from 413 employees suggest that an individual's attitude towards skills upgrading, self-efficacy, usefulness of skills upgrading, health condition and long-term orientation are positively related to motivation for skills upgrading. Implications for policy makers, managers and researchers are discussed.     

Intrinsic motivation: the case for healthcare systems in Malaysia and globally

The intrinsic motivational aspects that improve the psychological well-being of health practitioners have been usurped by an insulated reliance on financial incentives and other external factors. This paper examines issues pertinent to the motivation of doctors in the healthcare system in Malaysia. The article also attempts to identify problem areas that could benefit from interventions focusing on intrinsic motivation. Financial incentives and the deterioration in intrinsic motivation levels partly influence the exodus of healthcare workers from public healthcare organizations to private practice. A multidimensional approach is required to improve intrinsic motivation amongst healthcare workers. Leadership strength, organizational citizenship, modification of job design, career management, and a democratized work environment are seen as crucial factors to remedy work morale in healthcare systems. A prospective conceptual framework described in this article could serve as the foundation to analyse motivational outcomes through research in the future.     

Successful integration of target firms in international acquisitions: A comparative study in the Medical Technology industry

This paper explores approaches for integration of target firms in international acquisitions in the context of the Medical Technology (MT) industry. Recent research suggests that resource interactions present the primary activities in integration. With six in-depth case studies, this paper firstly reexamines the strategic resources in smaller units to build the foundation for later analysis. It then clarifies the concept of similarity and complementarity with two working definitions. After that, four integration approaches have been identified: capability maintenance, capacity building, product focus, and R&D focus. Finally, a two by two matrix is synthesized to reveal the nature of developing integration approaches from a resource-based view (RBV). Besides the theoretical contributions to acquisition literature, this study also has its compound managerial implications.     

An assessment framework based on social perspectives and Analytic Hierarchy Process: A case study on sustainability in the Japanese concrete industry

This research introduces a framework for assessing concrete sustainability which is based upon the concept that technology is defined by stakeholders’ perspectives and which applied Analytic Hierarchy Process to translate these perspectives into quantifiable assessment values. A survey was conducted to identify important criteria, and several “design scenarios” were introduced which represent different value systems by varying criteria importance. Concrete materials with varying environmental impact were then assessed to observe the effect of different value systems and material properties, and it was found that the concrete with better properties was generally selected as most sustainable regardless of the design scenario.     

Lean thinking in the highways construction sector: motivation,implementation and barriers

The interest in lean thinking in the UK’s civil construction industry is on the rise. The research presented in the paper evaluates the adoption of lean thinking in the highways construction sector by investigating 7 motivation factors, 20 lean techniques and 16 barriers through in-depth interviews with 20 sector managers and a questionnaire survey of 110 responses. The findings show the existence of strong external motivational factors for lean thinking such as clients’ push and companies’ expectation of winning more contracts alongside lean’s operational benefits. Limited adoptions of the lean techniques, mostly in the stepwise process improvement cycle, the Last Planner System and Visual Management, were determined. This raises concerns about ‘pseudo-lean’ practices in the sector. Lack of standardisation, insufficient benefit capturing, insufficient know-how, insufficient control of the entire value stream and limited view to the techniques were found as the top barriers.     

A riddle wrapped in an enigma: Demystifying Russian managerial motivation

Western business people are eager to penetrate the vast Russian market that has opened up following the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism. Yet, many are discovering that their Russian contacts are like the ‘riddle wrapped in an enigma’ that Winston Churchill called Russia in decades past. Using a framework of five components of motivation, Sheila Puffer explains how Russian managers think and act in three time periods: the autocrat in pre-revolutionary tsarist times, comrade communist from the Russian revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the emergent entrepreneur in the fledgling market-oriented economy of the 1990s.     

Farm equipment industry performance: past and future

This paper assesses the agricultural equipment industry through the perspective of the three leading firms in the United States. It reviews the salient events of the 1990s and relates the business environment to the firms’ financial performance. It then assesses the factors likely to impact performance in the future, drawing on lessons from historical performance and on new environmental factors. The firms’ capital market valuations appear consistent with the expectation that farm equipment firms will resume growth after the farm recession.     

Customer knowledge sharing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions: The role of customer motivation and promise management

Knowledge is a vital source of competitive advantage and renewal for contemporary organizations. However, to date, few studies have scrutinized how mergers and acquisitions (M&As)—processes dependent on knowledge sharing—offer a valuable inter-organizational context through which to understand the attainment of customer knowledge sharing following M&As. Applying an integrated theoretical perspective from customer relationship management and M&A performance research, we study a Chinese–Finnish acquisition and customer firms of the acquired party across four advanced Western countries. We find that customer knowledge sharing is an active relationship management process that relies on the factors of customer dedication-based motivation vs. customer concerns about M&As to maintain relationships after acquisitions. In addition, and more importantly, we find that the promise management mechanisms—making promises, enabling promises, and keeping promises—of the M&A parties reinforce the motivational factors to maintain customer knowledge sharing in cross-border M&As. We propose a conceptual framework of customer knowledge sharing in cross-border M&As.     

Communicating Geographical Risks in Crisis Management: The Need for Research

In any crisis, there is a great deal of uncertainty, often geographical uncertainty or, more precisely, spatiotemporal uncertainty. Examples include the spread of contamination from an industrial accident, drifting volcanic ash, and the path of a hurricane. Estimating spatiotemporal probabilities is usually a difficult task, but that is not our primary concern. Rather, we ask how analysts can communicate spatiotemporal uncertainty to those handling the crisis. We comment on the somewhat limited literature on the representation of spatial uncertainty on maps. We note that many cognitive issues arise and that the potential for confusion is high. We note that in the early stages of handling a crisis, the uncertainties involved may be deep, i.e., difficult or impossible to quantify in the time available. In such circumstance, we suggest the idea of presenting multiple scenarios.     

Hedonism versus accuracy: the influence of motivation and affect on the evaluation of multiple gains and losses

The perceived value of multiple gains and losses may be influenced by a perceiver’s goals or affective state. In this research, insights from prospect theory were combined with the heuristic-systematic model to shed light on the information-processing strategies that underlie motivated and affect-related preference formation in the context of valuating multiple gains and losses. Specifically, findings from two experiments examine the influence of motivation and affect on preferences for segregated versus integrated gains and losses. In the first experiment—consistent with hypotheses—accuracy motivation was found to induce systematic processing for gains. The mixed results in the loss condition are explained with the influence of negative affect. Overall, the evidence supports the notion that people’s value functions might be more flexible than predicted by prospect theory, depending on people’s current goals. The second experiment substantiates these findings, identifying the influence of negative versus positive affect on the valuation of gains and losses. The results suggest that mood-management determines information processing and preferences depending on the congruence of the valence of affect (e.g. negative such as sadness) and the valence event (e.g. a positive event such as a gain). From a managerial perspective these studies add to practical knowledge on price communication, bundling, surcharges, or sequences of payments. When setting prices, salaries or other compensation schemes managers should consider whether their target group tends to be more accuracy or more feeling motivated.     

Demonstrating the Need for Effective Business Ethics: An Alternative Approach

Since the financial crisis, the malfeasance of business leaders has been a recurring theme in the news, along with calls for increased regulation and oversight. This focus on the ethics of the business community raises a concern about the ethics of those in business or going into business. The ethics of business people and business students has been explored by a number of researchers using survey techniques. We propose and report the results of an alternative method for investigating unethical behavior by students. In a motivated economic experiment with introductory level students, we find that business students were almost twice as likely to lie for a monetary reward as students in other disciplines, demonstrating the need for effective business ethics.