Stop Making Sense! Erfolgreiche Teamkooperation in globalen Kontexten

With the ongoing globalization process and hierarchical organizations being extended by network oriented principles of governance, the effective team cooperation becomes a success criterion for the management of complex organizations. Group dynamics and organizational theory establish well known variables that have to be addressed for assuring the performance and effectiveness of team work. This article extends these findings by a focused analysis of characteristics of multinational teams. Moreover, success criteria for uncovering the available potential within international teams are explored. On the basis of ethnologic and system-theoretically considerations, the current status quo concerning the manifold integration efforts (such as the prevalent team building programs) will fundamentally be questioned as well as alternatives developed. Finally, the risks and opportunities of a difference oriented mindset will be illustrated on the basis of a concrete and practical example.     

Boosting flexible functional regression models with a high number of functional historical effects

We propose a general framework for regression models with functional response containing a potentially large number of flexible effects of functional and scalar covariates. Special emphasis is put on historical functional effects, where functional response and functional covariate are observed over the same interval and the response is only influenced by covariate values up to the current grid point. Historical functional effects are mostly used when functional response and covariate are observed on a common time interval, as they account for chronology. Our formulation allows for flexible integration limits including, e.g., lead or lag times. The functional responses can be observed on irregular curve-specific grids. Additionally, we introduce different parameterizations for historical effects and discuss identifiability issues.The models are estimated by a component-wise gradient boosting algorithm which is suitable for models with a potentially high number of covariate effects, even more than observations, and inherently does model selection. By minimizing corresponding loss functions, different features of the conditional response distribution can be modeled, including generalized and quantile regression models as special cases. The methods are implemented in the open-source R package FDboost. The methodological developments are motivated by biotechnological data on Escherichia coli fermentations, but cover a much broader model class.     

A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation

Using a 'subjectivist' approach to the assessment of happiness, a new 4-item measure of global subjective happiness was developed and validated in 14 studies with a total of 2 732 participants. Data was collected in the United States from students on two college campuses and one high school campus, from community adults in two California cities, and from older adults. Students and community adults in Moscow, Russia also participated in this research. Results indicated that the Subjective Happiness Scale has high internal consistency, which was found to be stable across samples. Test-retest and self-peer correlations suggested good to excellent reliability, and construct validation studies of convergent and discriminant validity confirmed the use of this scale to measure the construct of subjective happiness. The rationale for developing a new measure of happiness, as well as advantages of this scale, are discussed.     

On likelihood ratio testing for penalized splines

Penalized spline regression using a mixed effects representation is one of the most popular nonparametric regression tools to estimate an unknown regression function $f(\cdot )$ . In this context testing for polynomial regression against a general alternative is equivalent to testing for a zero variance component. In this paper, we fill the gap between different published null distributions of the corresponding restricted likelihood ratio test under different assumptions. We show that: (1) the asymptotic scenario is determined by the choice of the penalty and not by the choice of the spline basis or number of knots; (2) non-standard asymptotic results correspond to common penalized spline penalties on derivatives of $f(\cdot )$ , which ensure good power properties; and (3) standard asymptotic results correspond to penalized spline penalties on $f(\cdot )$ itself, which lead to sizeable power losses under smooth alternatives. We provide simple and easy to use guidelines for the restricted likelihood ratio test in this context.     

Outlier detection in contingency tables based on minimal patterns

A new technique for the detection of outliers in contingency tables is introduced, where outliers are unusual cell counts with respect to classical loglinear Poisson models. Subsets of cell counts called minimal patterns are defined, corresponding to non-singular design matrices and leading to potentially uncontaminated maximum-likelihood estimates of the model parameters and thereby the expected cell counts. A criterion to easily produce minimal patterns in the two-way case under independence is derived, based on the analysis of the positions of the chosen cells. A simulation study and a couple of real-data examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the newly developed outlier identification algorithm, and to compare it with other existing methods.     

Calling social capital: An analysis of the determinants of success on the TV quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

This paper analyzes the determinants of successful participation of candidates on the well known television quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. Our study includes a survey of 660 contestants who participated in the German version of the show between 1999 and 2007. We are particularly interested in two hypotheses. The first hypothesis refers to the assumed advantage of social capital. Contestants on the show have the option of calling a friend (the phone-a-friend lifeline) whom they select from their personal networks. The person chosen to be the phone-a-friend lifeline should be especially helpful if the contestant has a large network of able contacts from which to choose. Second, according to human capital theory the participants’ education should increase the chances of success and should lead on average to higher payoffs. Since contestants on the show can answer questions correctly mainly on the basis of their knowledge and since other characteristics of the candidates are irrelevant, estimates of the human capital effect are not affected by other possible causes suggested by signaling theory. Thus, our analysis is an assessment of the effects of social capital and human capital on the show.     

What are the Differences between Happiness and Self-Esteem

The present study investigated theoretically and empirically derived similarities and differences between the constructs of enduring happiness and self-esteem. Participants (N = 621), retired employees ages 51–95, completed standardized measures of affect, personality, psychosocial characteristics, physical health, and demographics. The relations between each of the two target variables (happiness and self-esteem) and the full set of remaining variables were assessed through a series of successive statistical analyses: (1) simple Pearson’s correlations, (2) partial correlations, and (3) hierarchical regression analyses. The results revealed that happiness and self-esteem, while highly correlated (r = 0.58), presented unique patterns of relations with the other measured variables. The best predictors of happiness were the following: mood and temperamental traits (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism), social relationships (lack of loneliness and satisfaction with friendships), purpose in life, and global life satisfaction. By contrast, self-esteem was best predicted by dispositions related to agency and motivation (i.e., optimism and lack of hopelessness). Implications for the understanding of happiness and self-esteem are discussed.     

Instantanés de la situation des jeunes générations sur le marché du travail aux Pays-Bas

La relation de travail Ṣtypiqueṣ perd du terrain aujourd'hui. Les jeunes sont particulièrement touchés par cette évolution. Dans ce contexte, les auteures examinent dans le détail le parcours d'insertion des générations arrivées sur le marché du travail des Pays-Bas entre 1985 et 2014, en procédant sur le modèle de l'analyse séquentielle des parcours de vie. Avec deux indicateurs spécifiques (niveau d'entropie et de turbulence), elles montrent que la trajectoire des cohortes qui s'insèrent après 2000, notamment en 2008, est effectivement plus accidentée, et ce malgré la politique de flexisécurité à l'honneur dans le pays. Les transitions vers l'emploi stable sont l'exception plutôt que la règle.     

The Influence of Gender Composition in Powerful Positions on Public Relations Practitioners' Gender-Related Perceptions

Against the background of the high feminization of the German agency sector, this article investigates 2 specific factors that help explain women's careers in public relations agencies: gender stereotypes and the organizational context. We present parts of a recent German explorative study: Long interviews were conducted with 13 female public relations experts to explain their view on women's situation in public relations in general and to describe their own careers. Findings reveal the evolution of a “PR bunny” stereotype that adds a negative touch to the female image as “natural born communicators.” Furthermore, our results support the argument that women seem to prefer (a) the organizational culture of public relations agencies, (b) agency-specific job tasks, and (c) agency-specific work processes. Possible consequences for practitioners and the profession are discussed.