Productive organizational energy mediates the impact of organizational structure on absorptive capacity

The ability of an organization to cope with radical technological change is regarded to be heavily dependent on its ability to absorb and apply knowledge from its environment. This study investigates the role of organizational structure in driving absorptive capacity and uncovers the role of the emergent phenomenon of organizational energy as the enabler of this relationship. A field study was conducted among firms that are challenged by the disruptive nature of Cloud computing. Our results show that organizational design affects the degree of mobilization of an organization's affective, cognitive and behavioral resources, which in turn influence the effectiveness of learning processes related to the absorption and exchange of knowledge within the organization. Furthermore, they reveal the positive relationship between the enactment of absorptive capacity and the successful adoption of Cloud technology for incumbent firms. The findings contribute to our understanding of the micro-foundations of absorptive capacity and how positive organizational phenomena facilitate effective adoption and implementation of emerging technologies.     

Efficacy of a Self-Help Treatment for At-Risk and Pathological Gamblers

Available evidence suggests that self-help treatments may reduce problem gambling severity but inconsistencies of results across clinical trials leave the extent of their benefits unclear. Moreover, no self-help treatment has yet been validated within a French Canadian setting. The current study therefore assesses the efficacy of a French language self-help treatment including three motivational telephone interviews spread over an 11-week period and a cognitive-behavioral self-help workbook. At-risk and pathological gamblers were randomly assigned to the treatment group (n = 31) or the waiting list (n = 31). Relative to the waiting list, the treatment group showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of DSM-5 gambling disorder criteria met, gambling habits, and gambling consequences at Week 11. Perceived self-efficacy and life satisfaction also significantly improved after 11 weeks for the treatment group, but not for the waiting list group. At Week 11, 13% of participants had dropped out of the study. All significant changes reported for the treatment group were maintained throughout 1, 6 and 12-month follow-ups. Results support the efficacy of the self-help treatment to reduce problem gambling severity, gambling behaviour and to improve overall functioning among a sample of French Canadian problem gamblers over short, medium and long term. Findings from this study lend support to the appropriateness of self-help treatments for problem gamblers and help clarify inconsistencies found in the literature. The low dropout rate is discussed with respect to the advantages of the self-help format. Clinical and methodological implications of the results are put forth.     

Effects of long-term landscape dynamics and city growth on biodiversity in the Mediterranean: the case study of Montpellier,France

In the Mediterranean, long-term land-use changes have resulted into landscape mosaics composed of very few ancient woodland remnants scattered across extended post-agricultural woodlands. Patches of ancient woodlands are now suffering rapid urban growth that reduces their area and impact their associated biodiversity. Here we use the case study of Montpellier, one of the most dynamic cities in France, to 1) characterize temporal changes in land covers (between 1860 and 2006) in its area, and 2) using two guilds of fungal bioindicators (i.e., polypores and lichens), to compare biodiversity stakes between ancient and secondary Mediterranean woodlands. We used a combination of historical maps, archives, fungal collections and field survey in eight Quercus ilex patches (4 ancient versus 4 recent replicates) to reconstruct landscapes dynamics and assess biodiversity changes. From the 19th to the 21st century, over half (52.4%) of the ancient woodlands within Montpellier were replaced by other land covers, mainly by urban equipment, while secondary patches (16.8% of the total area) were naturally established. Remaining ancient woodlands show multi-layered vegetation made of multi-secular Pinus halepensis dominating a dynamic understorey made of Quercus ilex and various Mediterranean shrubs. Polypores, but not macrolichens, tended to differ in community composition between ancient and recent woodland patches, with the highest diversity found in ancient woodlands. This study highlights that urban woodland patches of contrasted histories harbour distinct biodiversity stakes to be included in urban planning and provide valuable areas to evaluate biodiversity patterns and dynamics.     

Women on strike: mobilizing against reproductive injustice in Poland

The paper employs a lens of reproductive justice (RJ) to discuss the events of the 2016 mobilization against a total abortion ban proposal in Poland. By presenting the context of women’s rights in Poland, especially the abortion debates, we argue that the 2016 Women’s Strike showed that taking a stand for reproductive justice was countered by governmental actions. By using a case study approach, the paper analyzes the Strike as a tumultuous act of women’s solidarity while simultaneously assessing its implications for RJ issues. We discuss the aftermath and the socio-political reticence to acknowledge the complexities of women’s lives and reproductive choices. Further, we provide arguments for applying the RJ framework into discerning the notion of ideal citizens and gendered social control in Poland. This localized analysis has a global relevance by reflecting the impact of worldwide trends in women’s rights activism and RJ in the context of resurfacing nationalisms and populism.     

Gender differences in gambling preferences and problem gambling: a network-level analysis

Most gambling studies have a gender-blind research approach, although a large body of scientific evidence suggests that gambling in females is on the rise and that males and females have different gambling behaviours and experience specific gambling-related harm. This study addressed these gender differences using a network analysis, an innovative approach considering disorders/concepts as dynamic systems of interacting symptoms/items. Data on gambling activities, problem gambling, substance use and mental health were collected in a representative sample of French adult gamblers (n = 8805). The study capitalized on the network analysis directly to compare associations of specific gambling activities with gambling disorder symptoms separately for both genders. The network analysis revealed that problem gambling was strongly associated with gambling machines among females, whereas it was related to sports betting, poker and casino games among males. The networks that included substance use and mental health showed that substance use was related to specific gambling activities. These findings confirm the links between various gender-specific gambling patterns and problem gambling and suggest a need to consider these gender differences to improve prevention efforts. More broadly, the present study further supports the importance of gender differences for gambling research and policy.     

An association between bone mineral density and anabolic hormones in middle-aged and elderly men with prediabetes

Introduction: Prediabetes (PD) leads to reduced testosterone (T) in males, but the association between the anabolic hormones and bone mineral density (BMD) remains unknown.

Objectives: We investigated an association between the anabolic hormones and BMD in middle-aged and elderly men with PD.

Methods: We investigated 84 prediabetic and 56 control men. Total T (TT), calculated free T (cFT), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) were measured, and BMD was assessed using DXA methods.

Results: Patients with PD had lower TT (p?p?<?.005), and DHEAS (p?<?.02) than control group. BMD values of the lower lumbar spine (p?<?.02) and total body (p?<?.05) in prediabetic men were lower than in control group. Lumbar spine BMD correlated with TT (r?=?0.376), cFT (r?=?0.235), and HbA1c (r?=??0.368); femoral neck BMD correlated with TT (r?=?0.412) and cFT (r?=?0.421). The high lumbar spine and femur neck BMD was associated with high TT, cFT, and low HbA1c, while the high total body BMD with high TT, cFT, and low HbA1c.

Conclusion: The anabolic hormones significantly affect BMD in male with PD, and screening for low BMD is necessary in these patients.     

Unmasking the crowd: participants’ motivation factors,expectations, and profile in a crowdsourced law reform

This article examines the demographic characteristics, motivations, and expectations of participants in a crowdsourced off-road traffic law reform in Finland. We found that the participants were mainly educated, full-time working professional males with a strong interest in off-road traffic. Though a minority, the women participating in the process produced more ideas than the men. The crowd was motivated by a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic motivations included fulfilling civic duty, affecting the law for sociotropic reasons, to deliberate with and learn from peers. Extrinsic motivations included changing the law for financial gain or other benefits. Participation in crowdsourced policy-making was an act of grassroots advocacy, whether to pursue one’s own interest or more altruistic goals, such as protecting nature. The motivations driving the participation were in part similar to those observed in traditional democratic processes, such as elections as well as other online collaborations such as crowdsourced journalism and citizen science. The crowds’ behavior was, however, paradoxical. They participated despite the fact that they did not expect that their contributions would affect the law.     

The “ugly” face of social investment? The politics of childcare in Central and Eastern Europe

In this article, we aim to understand the development dynamics of a specific area of social investment (SI), that is, childcare policies, in the context of postcommunist politics and the recent right-wing turn that took place in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. This article identifies varieties of channels for promoting SI. First, in taking the perspective of the “mixed economy of welfare,” we argue that attempts made to introduce elements of SI to the childcare policies involved various leading roles available for either the private sector or state/public domain. Second, it is important to distinguish between implicit/unintended and explicit/intended projects both in relation to cases in which SI strategy is applied via marketization/privatization and when it involves a government-led project. Third, we take into account the politics of SI implementation that might involve applying certain principles central to policy concepts (such as “investment”) in justifying policy instruments incompatible with original ideas. Although arguments about SI have been extensively used by Eastern European leaders, their goal has been to justify welfare reforms that were implicitly or explicitly directed towards the middle class while excluding the “nondeserving” often based on ethnic identity. We characterize Poland as a case of “implicit marketization,” the Czech Republic as a case of “explicit privatization,” and the Hungarian version of SI as a case of “explicit public dualization.” In this, we show that in some cases, the implementation of SI approaches by right-wing populist parties might rear its “ugly” head.     

From the hidden welfare state to the hidden part of welfare state reform: Analyzing the uses and effects of fiscal welfare in France

This article argues that fiscal welfare in Europe not only forms part of the “hidden welfare state” (Howard, 1997 ), but also constitutes an important yet understudied—and therefore hidden—element of welfare state reform. Using the example of France, and relying both on available data and on an exhaustive database of social tax expenditures (STEs) compiled for 2014, the article begins by providing an overview of the structure of STEs in France (section 2 ). It then analyzes the specific uses and effects of STEs in the fields of employment, health care, and pensions. In particular, it shows, first of all, how STEs have constituted a privileged instrument for circumventing certain institutional features such as high levels of minimum wage and of social security contributions in the field of employment (section 3 ). Second, it also shows that STEs have been used to quietly divert resources away from the earmarked social security funds and into collective private insurance funds, thus fueling their development, in the case of health care and pensions (section 4 ). Lastly, the article engages with the notion of the “social division of welfare” (Titmuss, 1958 ) by considering some of the distributional effects of fiscal welfare in France (section 5 ), before concluding (section 6 ).