Empathic emotion and leadership performance: An empirical analysis across 38 countries

The purpose of our research is to examine the relationship between subordinate ratings of a target-leader's empathic emotion and boss ratings of performance of that target-leader. Furthermore, using hierarchical linear modeling, we assess whether the cultural background of the target-leader moderates this relationship. Our results show that leaders who are rated by their subordinates as engaging in behaviors that signal empathic emotion are perceived as better performers by their bosses. In addition, we found that the GLOBE societal culture dimension of power distance was a significant cross-level moderator of the relationship between empathic emotion and performance. Implications for leading in cross-cultural and multicultural contexts are discussed.     

Therapeutic implications of continuing bonds expressions following the death of a pet

Through the exploration of 12 continuing bonds expressions (CBE), this current study investigated the grief reaction and continuing impact of the death of a pet. Thirty-three individuals were interviewed to determine the degree of connection maintained with the deceased pet and how that affects their coping. Findings emphasize that the majority of respondents frequently maintain ongoing meaningful ties with their deceased pet through the use of CBE such as fond memories, rituals, dreams. The findings suggest that it is not the number of CBE but the degree of adaptability that is significant. The importance of recognizing the unique, total experience of those grieving the death of a pet is addressed. Implications for those working with and supporting those in grief are included. Future directions for research are described.     

Improving an upper bound on the size of k-regular induced subgraphs

This paper considers the NP-hard graph problem of determining a maximum cardinality subset of vertices inducing a k-regular subgraph. For any graph G, this maximum will be denoted by α _k (G). From a well known Motzkin-Straus result, a relationship is deduced between α _k (G) and the independence number α(G). Next, it is proved that the upper bounds υ _k (G) introduced in Cardoso et al. (J. Comb. Optim., 14, 455–463, 2007) can easily be computed from υ ₀(G), for any positive integer k. This relationship also allows one to present an alternative proof of the Hoffman bound extension introduced in the above paper. The paper continues with the introduction of a new upper bound on α _k (G) improving υ _k (G). Due to the difficulty of computing this improved bound, two methods are provided for approximating it. Finally, some computational experiments which were performed to compare all bounds studied are reported.     

The EPQ with partial backordering and phase-dependent backordering rate

In previous work we established a closed-form optimal stocking strategy for an EPQ model with partial backordering at a constant rate β. Here we extend this work to allow for the possibility that the percentage of demand backordered will increase when production starts again. We show how our previous model can be adapted to find the optimal decision variable values for this new assumption and develop the condition that the initial value of β must meet for partial backordering to be optimal.     

New perspectives on the governance of executive compensation: an examination of the role and effect of compensation consultants

We develop a multi-theoretic approach, drawing on economic, institutional, managerial power and social comparison literatures to explain the role of the external compensation consultant in the top management pay setting institutional field. Taking advantage of recent disclosure requirements in the UK, we collect data on compensation consultant use in 232 large companies. We show that consultants are a prevalent part of the CEO pay setting scene, and document evidence of all advisor use. Our econometric results show that consultant use is associated with firm size and the equity pay mix. We also show that CEO pay is positively associated with peer firms that share consultants, with higher board and consultant interlocks, and some evidence that where firms supply other business services to the firm, CEO pay is greater.     

该反思你对人员管理的认识了

要保持竞争力,企业必须在人员管理方面采取大幅变革当婴儿潮一代临近传统上的退休年龄,具有前瞻思维的企业正加大对领导力发展与继任规划的投入。他们着眼于加强人才储备:让企业的青     

Enabling a Powerful Marine and Offshore Decision-Support Solution Through Bayesian Network Technique

A powerful practical solution is by far the most desired output when making decisions under the realm of uncertainty on any safety-critical marine or offshore units and their systems. With data and information typically being obtained incrementally, adopting Bayesian network (BN) is shown to realistically deal with the random uncertainties while at the same time making risk assessments easier to build and to check. A well-matched methodology is proposed to formalize the reasoning in which the focal mechanism of inference processing relies on the sound Bayes's rule/theorem that permits the logic. Expanding one or more influencing nodal parameters with decision and utility node(s) also yields an influence diagram (ID). BN and ID feasibility is shown in a marine evacuation scenario and that of authorized vessels to floating, production, storage, and offloading collision, developed via a commercial computer tool. Sensitivity analysis and validation of the produced results are also presented.     

Toward Improving Food Safety in the Domestic Environment: A Multi-Item Rasch Scale for the Measurement of the Safety Efficacy of Domestic Food-Handling Practices

To reduce consumer health risks from foodborne diseases that result from improper domestic food handling, consumers need to know how to safely handle food. To realize improvements in public health, it is necessary to develop interventions that match the needs of individual consumers. Successful intervention strategies are therefore contingent on identifying not only the practices that are important for consumer protection, but also barriers that prevent consumers from responding to these interventions. A measure of food safety behavior is needed to assess the effectiveness of different intervention strategies across different groups of consumers. A nationally representative survey was conducted in the Netherlands to determine which practices are likely conducted by which consumers. Participants reported their behaviors with respect to 55 different food-handling practices. The Rasch modeling technique was used to determine a general measure for the likelihood of an average consumer performing each food-handling behavior. Simultaneously, an average performance measure was estimated for each consumer. These two measures can be combined to predict the likelihood that an individual consumer engages in a specific food-handling behavior. A single "food safety" dimension was shown to underlie all items. Some potentially safe practices (e.g., use of meat thermometers) were reported as very difficult, while other safe practices were conducted by respondents more frequently (e.g., washing of fresh fruit and vegetables). A cluster analysis was applied to the resulting data set, and five segments of consumers were identified. Different behaviors may have different effects on microbial growth in food, and thus have different consequences for human health. Once the microbial relevance of the different consumer behaviors has been confirmed by experiments and modeling, the scale developed in the research reported here can be used to develop risk communication targeted to the needs of different consumer groups, as well as to measure the efficacy of different interventions.     

Rendite und Kapitalkosten

Zusammenfassung  Zur Bewertung von Investitionsprojekten mit mehrperiodigen Zahlungen werden die erwarteten Zahlungen mit geeigneten Kapitalkosten diskontiert. In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass die erwarteten einperiodigen Renditen nur unter bestimmten Annahmen die geeigneten Kapitalkosten darstellen. Wenn zwischen den einperiodigen Renditen Autokorrelation auftritt, ist ein zus?tzlicher Korrekturterm bei der Ermittlung der Kapitalkosten zu berücksichtigen. Im Falle unkorrelierter Renditen entspricht der stochastische Prozess der Renditen dem Prozess der Risikoaufl?sung.

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Summary  In this paper it is argued that the discount rates used for the computation of the present values of an investment project with cash-flows to be realized over several years have to be adjusted when the one-period returns of the investment project are autocorrelated. The formula of the correct discount rate is deduced. In the case of uncorrelated returns of the investment, the stochastic process of the returns and of the cost of capital are closely related to the process of the arrival of information over time.

Ich danke zwei anonymen Gutachtern für wertvolle Verbesserungsvorschl?ge an einer früheren Version des Aufsatzes sowie dem Verein zur F?rderung der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Lehre und Praxis am Finanzplatz Hannover e.V. für seine Unterstützung.