The Pygmalion Process and Employee Creativity

The study examined the Pygmalion process for creativity among 140 R&D employees. Results generally supported the Pygmalion model. Supervisors holding higher expectations for employee creativity were perceived by employees as behaving more supportively of creativity. The effects of these behaviors on employee creative self-efficacy were mediated by employee view of creativity expectations. Creative self-efficacy mediated the effects of supervisor expectations, supervisor behaviors, and employee view, on creative performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

A Resource-based View of Strategic Alliances and Firm Value in the Electronic Marketplace

This study relies on the resource-based view to examine how alliances of e-commerce firms affect firm value in an emerging business sector. Using an event study method, we investigate 272 alliances of 69 e-commerce firms. Our findings show that alliances of e-commerce firms in general have a positive effect on firm value. Unlike previous studies of alliances, we find that marketing alliances generate significantly greater firm value than technology alliances. Our results also show that alliances with other e-commerce partners do not have a significantly different effect on firm value than alliances with bricks-and-mortar partners. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.     

The Effects of Top Management Team Pay and Firm Internationalization on MNC Performance

We examine relationships among top management team (TMT) compensation, a firm’s degree of internationalization (DOI), and its subsequent levels of market and accounting performance. Consistent with our contingency view of information-processing theory, we find that non-CEO total pay and the use of long-term incentive pay are positively associated with subsequent performance, whereas the CEO-TMT total pay gap has negative effects on firm performance. CEO pay has no relationship with performance and TMT pay effects are much stronger in MNCs with high DOI.     

Robust bootstrap densities for dynamic conditional correlations: implications for portfolio selection and Value-at-Risk

ABSTRACT

Many financial decisions such as portfolio allocation, risk management, option pricing and hedge strategies are based on the forecast of the conditional variances, covariances and correlations of financial returns. Although the decisions depend on the forecasts covariance matrix little is known about effects of outliers on the uncertainty associated with these forecasts. In this paper we analyse these effects on the context of dynamic conditional correlation models when the uncertainty is measured using bootstrap methods. We also propose a bootstrap procedure to obtain forecast densities for return, volatilities, conditional correlation and Value-at-Risk that is robust to outliers. The results are illustrated with simulated and real data.     

Signals and closure by degrees: The education effect across 15 European countries

Stratification research has extensively studied country-differences in the strength of the relationship between education and labor market outcomes. This research has mostly neglected the different mechanisms that could explain why education is rewarded. In this paper we argue that not only the strength of the relationship, but also the mechanisms explaining why education is rewarded differ between countries. National institutions affect how employers see education, what it brings to the organization, and how workers signal their potential productivity. Empirically we focus on the partial effects of qualifications on top of years of education in 15 European countries. We find that strongly vocationally oriented and differentiated schooling systems have relatively strong net effects of qualifications on occupational status, which is explained by stronger signalling by qualification levels in those countries. Furthermore, in coordinated market economies we find that vocational education leads to higher status jobs relative to liberal market economies, which is explained by higher levels of closure implemented by coordination institutions.     

The family exclusion order as a harm-minimisation measure for casino gambling: the case of Singapore

Singapore is one of the first jurisdictions in the world that has implemented a harm minimization model based on third party exclusion known as the Family Exclusion Order (FEO). Unlike other forms of third party exclusion practiced in other countries, family members in Singapore are able to apply for FEOs to prevent a gambler from entering the casinos, if the family has experienced harm caused by his/her gambling. In this study, 105 applicants for the FEO were sampled from all successful FEOs granted within a five-year period. Using a qualitative approach, this study attempts to illuminate the intricate issues experienced by family members that provided the impetus for them to apply for the FEO. While the extant literature posits self-exclusion as a superior tool of restraint as it involves the gambler’s personal motivation to curb gambling, this paper reports initial evidence of benefits resulting from family-imposed restraints from the perspective of family members. In particular, positive ratings of the FEO stemmed from a sense of relief experienced by mother and wife applicants. Possible reasons behind these positive outcomes are explicated using intrinsic motivation theory, with sensitivity to gender relations within the family.     

Making Room for Play: An innovative Intervention for Toddlers and Families Under Rocket Fire

Evidence from both clinical reports and empirical research suggests that symbolic play may help heal children’s traumas. Playfulness, an enduring individual characteristic, also contributes to resilience. However, trauma often sabotages children’s ability to engage in imaginary play and parents’ ability to be involved in playful interactions with their young children. This paper describes an innovative preventive group-intervention program by the name of NAMAL (Hebrew acronym for Let’s Make Room for Play), designed for mothers and their toddlers who live under the chronic stress of recurrent missile attacks in Israel. The major objective of the program is to bolster children’s resilience by enhancing their playful interactions with their mothers. The theme and activities of each session are organized around a saying with a relational or developmental message. Reports collected from 70 mothers after their participation in the program highlighted the success of the intervention and the changes in the children and parents, as well as in their interactions with each other. Follow-up interviews conducted a year after the intervention provided further information on the long-term positive effects of the program.     

Risk factors for computer visual syndrome (CVS) among operators of two call centers in São Paulo, Brazil

The aims of this study were to investigate work conditions, to estimate the prevalence and to describe risk factors associated with Computer Vision Syndrome among two call centers' operators in S?o Paulo (n = 476). The methods include a quantitative cross-sectional observational study and an ergonomic work analysis, using work observation, interviews and questionnaires. The case definition was the presence of one or more specific ocular symptoms answered as always, often or sometimes. The multiple logistic regression model, were created using the stepwise forward likelihood method and remained the variables with levels below 5% (p < 0.05). The operators were mainly female and young (from 15 to 24 years old). The call center was opened 24 hours and the operators weekly hours were 36 hours with break time from 21 to 35 minutes per day. The symptoms reported were eye fatigue (73.9%), "weight" in the eyes (68.2%), "burning" eyes (54.6%), tearing (43.9%) and weakening of vision (43.5%). The prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome was 54.6%. Associations verified were: being female (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.1), lack of recognition at work (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.8), organization of work in call center (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.7) and high demand at work (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.3). The organization and psychosocial factors at work should be included in prevention programs of visual syndrome among call centers' operators.