Perception of learning culture and concerns about the innovation on its use: a question of level of analysis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational members' perception of learning culture and the concerns about the innovation, and the influence of these factors on the use of one innovation (ISO 9000) in the Malaysian public sector. This study was guided by the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hall and Hord 1987) and the dimensions of the learning organization (Watkins and Marsick 1993, 1996b). The study involved 628 people from eleven government agencies that had been using the new system for at least a year. The study provided a model for operationalizing the assertions and theories of both organizational development and learning organization scholars especially that a more adaptive learning-oriented culture would facilitate the implementation of change. The examination of learning culture facilitated the understanding of how members within the organization perceived their learning culture, and subsequently its relationship to their use of the innovation. The analysis of concerns illustrated the fit between the innovation and feelings and perceptions of the individual members about the innovation. On an individual organizational basis, the regression analyses showed that the model was able to explain the variance in use of innovation in each organization. However, a comparison of regression weights across the organizations told a very different story. The results showed that the combination of variables that explained the use of innovation varied radically from organization to organization. The findings raised questions about appropriate levels of analyses for such studies. The study suggests that theories that try to explain organizational innovation implementation be tested across organizations and take into account organizational context. Otherwise, they could lead to inaccurate conclusions.     

The cross-cultural adjustment process of expatriate families in a multinational organization: a family system theory perspective

This case study examined the relationship between the family flexibility of expatriates in a multinational corporation and their cross-cultural adjustment, as well as the stressors experienced by the expatriate, spouse, and children during the international transition. Family flexibility was negatively correlated with cross-cultural adjustment as perceived by the participating expatriates. All five cross-cultural adjustment dimensions (cultural, psychological, organizational, personal and relational) had a statistically significant relationship with family flexibility. Expatriate families identified cultural, relational, and psychological stressors as having the greatest impact on their cross-cultural adjustment. The components of family flexibility (roles, rules, assertiveness and leadership) played a key role in the cross-cultural adjustment of the expatriate, spouse and children. These findings provide insights to organizations and their human resource development professionals as well as to expatriates and their families on how family flexibility impacts cross-cultural adjustment – insights that could lead to the development of appropriate support and development mechanisms.     

Big Data Analytics Capabilities and Innovation: The Mediating Role of Dynamic Capabilities and Moderating Effect of the Environment

With big data analytics growing rapidly in popularity, academics and practitioners have been considering the means through which they can incorporate the shifts these technologies bring into their competitive strategies. Drawing on the resource‐based view, the dynamic capabilities view, and on recent literature on big data analytics, this study examines the indirect relationship between a big data analytics capability (BDAC) and two types of innovation capabilities: incremental and radical. The study extends existing research by proposing that BDACs enable firms to generate insight that can help strengthen their dynamic capabilities, which in turn positively impact incremental and radical innovation capabilities. To test their proposed research model, the authors used survey data from 175 chief information officers and IT managers working in Greek firms. By means of partial least squares structural equation modelling, the results confirm the authors’ assumptions regarding the indirect effect that BDACs have on innovation capabilities. Specifically, they find that dynamic capabilities fully mediate the effect on both incremental and radical innovation capabilities. In addition, under conditions of high environmental heterogeneity, the impact of BDACs on dynamic capabilities and, in sequence, incremental innovation capability is enhanced, while under conditions of high environmental dynamism the effect of dynamic capabilities on incremental innovation capabilities is amplified.     

Estimation of the Likelihood of Fecal–Oral HEV Transmission Among Pigs

Sources for human hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections of genotype 3 are largely unknown. Pigs are potential animal reservoirs for HEV. Intervention at pig farms may be desired when pigs are confirmed as a source for human infections, requiring knowledge about transmission routes. These routes are currently understudied. The current study aims to quantify the likelihood of pig feces in causing new HEV infections in pigs due to oral ingestion. We estimated the daily infection risk for pigs by modeling the fate of HEV in the fecal–oral (F–O) pathway. Using parameter values deemed most plausible by the authors based on current knowledge the daily risk of infection was 0.85 (95% interval: 0.03–1). The associated expected number of new infections per day was ～4 (2.5% limit 0.1, the 97% limit tending to infinity) compared to 0.7 observed in a transmission experiment with pigs, and the likelihood of feces causing the transmission approached 1. In alternative scenarios, F–O transmission of HEV was also very likely to cause new infections. By reducing the total value of all explanatory variables by 2 orders of magnitude, the expected numbers of newly infected pigs approached the observed number. The likelihood of F–O transmission decreased by decreasing parameter values, allowing for at most 94% of infections being caused by additional transmission routes. Nevertheless, in all scenarios F–O transmission was estimated to contribute to HEV transmission. Thus, despite the difficulty in infecting pigs with HEV via oral inoculation, the F–O route is likely to cause HEV transmission among pigs.     

Cortisol on Sunday as indicator of recovery from work: Prediction by observer ratings of job demands and control

Several considerations guided the research reported in this paper. First, recovery is pivotal for preventing stressful experiences from inducing long-term consequences. Second, cortisol levels under relaxed conditions constitute a good baseline measure. Third, there are many calls to avoid common method problems. Therefore, the Job Demands–Control (JDS) model, one of the most prominent models in occupational stress, should be tested by a combination of observation, self-report, and physiological data in terms of predicting recovery-related variables. In a sample of 53 Swiss employees, we assessed the JDS variables, demands and control, by systematic observation, fatigue at the end of work as an indicator of short-term recovery by questionnaire, and delayed recovery by baseline levels of cortisol on a Sunday under relaxing conditions. In line with expectations, regression analyses showed an impact of job demands and control on Sunday cortisol levels, and this effect was fully mediated by after work fatigue. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant interaction between job demands and control. Demonstrating that job demands and control predict after-work fatigue as well as a delayed physiological marker of recovery, these findings suggest that high after-work fatigue may entail costs to the individual’s physiological systems.     

Institutions and the Diversity and Prevalence of Multinationals’ Knowledge‐Augmenting Subsidiaries

Multinational corporations (MNCs) increasingly seek to gain access to, and exploit, locationally specific sources of advanced knowledge and technological capabilities, creating a need to explain (1) the diversity among these facilities and (2) how institutions influence MNCs’ abilities to invest in different subsidiary types. Extending debates on firms’ knowledge‐augmenting activities, the authors integrate institutions into their analytical framework to a greater extent than previous work has done. Moreover, existing contributions provide typologies of R&D subsidiaries. In contrast, the authors focus on a particular subset of subsidiaries, knowledge‐augmenting ones, and put forward a theory to explain their variety and their prevalence, enabling them to identify previously neglected subsidiary types that have important managerial and policy implications. By downplaying the diversity of these subsidiaries, existing work has not been able to capture the full range of managerial challenges as well as the costs and benefits of different subsidiary types to host countries. The authors, therefore, problematize firms’ abilities to gain access to foreign knowledge‐generating assets, highlight the importance of institutional environments, provide policy recommendations and identify areas for future research.     

The Role of Similarity Cues in the Development of Trustin Sources of Information About GM Food

In evaluating complex new technologies, people are usually dependent on information provided by others, for example, experts or journalists, and have to determine whether they can trust these information sources. This article focuses on similarity as the basis for trust. The first experiment ( N  = 261) confirmed that a journalist writing about genetically modified (GM) food was trusted more when his attitude was congruent with that of his readers. In addition, the experiment showed that this effect was mediated by the perceived similarity of the journalist. The second experiment ( N  = 172) revealed that trust in a journalist writing about the focal domain of GM food was even influenced by him expressing a congruent attitude in an unrelated domain. This result supports a general similarity account of the congruence effect on trust, as opposed to a confirmatory bias account.     

Reliability,Validity and Classification Accuracy of the South Oaks Gambling Screen in a Brazilian Sample

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability, validity and classification accuracy of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) in a sample of the Brazilian population. Participants in this study were drawn from three sources: 71 men and women from the general population interviewed at a metropolitan train station; 116 men and women encountered at a bingo venue; and 54 men and women undergoing treatment for gambling. The SOGS and a DSM-IV-based instrument were applied by trained researchers. The internal consistency of the SOGS was 0.75 according to the Cronbach’s alpha model, and construct validity was good. A significant difference among groups was demonstrated by ANOVA (F _(2.238) = 221.3, P < 0.001). The SOGS items and DSM-IV symptoms were highly correlated (r = 0.854, P < 0.01). The SOGS also presented satisfactory psychometric properties: sensitivity (100), specificity (74.7), positive predictive rate (60.7), negative predictive rate (100) and misclassification rate (0.18). However, a cut-off score of eight improved classification accuracy and reduced the rate of false positives: sensitivity (95.4), specificity (89.8), positive predictive rate (78.5), negative predictive rate (98) and misclassification rate (0.09). Thus, the SOGS was found to be reliable and valid in the Brazilian population.     

A dwindling middle class? Italian evidence in the 2000s

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to household impoverishment in Italy. Most of previous analyses dealing with this issue are based on summary statistics, which may not capture the whole income distribution. This paper employs a non-parametric tool, the “relative distribution”, to describe patterns of changes in the entire Italian household income distribution over the period 2000–2004. This approach also allows for a decomposition of the relative density to isolate changes due to differences in location from changes due to differences in shape, thus enabling deeper analysis of income polarization. During the 2000s there was a significant location effect, and also increased income polarization, which has particularly affected incomes below the median. Analyses by social groups, according to the employment status of the household head, show significant re-distribution effects within groups.     

Gypsy Children and the Italian School System: a closer look

By using the method of participant observation, both in the school and in the community, we were able to gain insight into a series of aspects that characterise the everyday school life of Sinti children in Italian schools. By describing the first school day of four Sinti children I attempt to point out some of the fundamental differences that exist between the children's community environment and the school's institutional environment, differences that lead to discontinuities that the children have to find coping mechanisms for.