The evolution of authoritarian processes: Fostering cooperation in large-scale groups

Authoritarianism, comprising conventionalism, authoritarian submission, and authoritarian aggression, is an important factor underlying prejudice and social discrimination and therefore is typically perceived as socially problematic. In contrast, our work examines adaptive features of authoritarianism. Evolutionary game theoretical considerations (e.g., biased social learning) point to authoritarian psychological processes that establish and foster group life (e.g., high levels of ingroup cooperation). First, the evolution of social learning (particularly conformist and prestige biases) leads to the establishment of local and distinct cultural groups (conventionalism). Second, local cultural rules solve coordination dilemmas by transforming these rules into normative standards against which others are evaluated (authoritarian submission). Third, the common rules within a particular culture or group are reinforced by a tendency to reward norm compliance and punish norm deviations (authoritarian aggression). Implications regarding the deduction of novel research questions as well as dealing with authoritarianism as a social problem are discussed.

Business partners and working the pumps: Human resource managers in the recession

This article examines the work and roles of HR managers in the Irish recession. It tests the validity of three competing views about the future of HR: that the profession needs to become a business partner; that it is knee-deep in a legitimacy crisis; and that it is fragmenting by being unable to cope with the complexity of modern organizational life. Three key findings emerge from the research. First, HR managers have gained greater influence in business decision-making, but much of this influence arises from short-run retrenchment measures. Second, many HR managers remain committed to long established professional values and ideas of good practice. Third, modern HR managers are developing a professional identity that allows them to perform multiple, competing roles. These findings challenge existing arguments about the effects of the current recession. They also speak to ongoing debates about changing HR roles by showing how HR managers remain adept at making pragmatic adaptations to secure their role in organizational life. © The Author(s) 2012.

Optimised extraction of heterocyclic aromatic amines from blood using hollow fibre membrane liquid-phase microextraction and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCA) are carcinogenic mutagens formed during cooking of proteinaceous foods, particularly meat. To assist in the ongoing search for biomarkers of HCA exposure in blood, a method is described for the extraction from human plasma of the most abundant HCAs: 2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo(4,5-b)pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) and 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx) (and its isomer 7,8-DiMeIQx), using Hollow Fibre Membrane Liquid-Phase Microextraction. This technique employs 2.5 cm lengths of porous polypropylene fibres impregnated with organic solvent to facilitate simultaneous extraction from an alkaline aqueous sample into a low volume acidic acceptor phase. This low cost protocol is extensively optimised for fibre length, extraction time, sample pH and volume. Detection is by UPLC-MS/MS using positive mode electrospray ionisation with a 3.4 min runtime, with optimum peak shape, sensitivity and baseline separation being achieved at pH 9.5. To our knowledge this is the first description of HCA chromatography under alkaline conditions. Application of fixed ion ratio tolerances for confirmation of analyte identity is discussed. Assay precision is between 4.5 and 8.8% while lower limits of detection between 2 and 5 pg/mL are below the concentrations postulated for acid-labile HCA-protein adducts in blood.

The effects of pollution prevention on performance

As pressure for companies to improve their environmental performance has intensified in recent years, research attention has shifted away from establishing a link between environmental practices and performance towards consideration of other factors that might facilitate performance improvements. This paper has two key purposes; firstly, to investigate whether internal support processes interact with pollution prevention by positively moderating the relationship between pollution prevention and environmental performance, and; secondly, to assess whether the relationship between pollution prevention and cost performance is mediated by environmental performance.

Design/methodology/approach
It uses a cross-sectional survey of 1,200 UK-based food processing firms to gather information on environmental practices and performance. Regression analysis was conducted on a sample of 149 responding firms to assess the hypothesised relationships.

Findings
Support was found for two of the four moderated relationships hypothesised namely, suggesting that internal support processes support the environmental performance of some pollution prevention practices. Strong support for a mediated relationship between pollution prevention, environmental performance and cost performance was provided by the results.

Originality/value
This study provides an original contribution to the literature on the performance outcomes of environmental practices by considering a number indirect relationships between environmental practices and performance. This has implications for the interpretation of the relationship between environmental practices and performance.