Work-related stressors and psychological strain in the sales force:the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

The contemporary workplace appears rife with psychological strain, which can have considerable deleterious outcomes to the firm and the individual. However, research on strain in the sales force is underdeveloped. This paper reports the results of a study of the antecedents and consequences of psychological strain in the sales force, with particular attention to the roles of role ambiguity, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Emotional exhaustion is found to increase strain. Intrinsic motivation reduces strain under conditions of relatively high role ambiguity, but leads to more strain under conditions of low role ambiguity. Strain is found to have a J-shaped relationship with turnover intentions, and is linearly related to lower job satisfaction and lower job performance.

Governing inter-organisational R&D supplier collaborations:a study at Jaguar Land Rover

This article discusses the importance of collaboration with suppliers and partners during research and development (R&D) technology projects. It details how this can be accomplished using the collaborative enterprise governance (CEG) concept to manage a technology project. CEG is based on the premise that parts of companies work with parts of other companies, which are reconfigured on dynamic bases according to a variety of different internal and external factors. This article presents an overview of the founding literature, the CEG and its methodology, and examples based at Jaguar Land Rover in the UK. CEG has been used here to explain why some technology projects have succeeded while others have done less well. This article concludes by offering new propositions, inducted through grounded theory, relating to the successful management of R&D projects, which should be picked up by future research studies in the area.

E-business planning and analysis framework

This chapter reports on a framework that has been successfully used to analyze the e-business capabilities of an organization with a view to developing their e-capability maturity levels. This should be the first stage of any systems development project. The framework has been used widely within start-up companies and well-established companies both large and small; it has been deployed in the service and manufacturing sectors. It has been applied by practitioners and consultants to help improve e-business capability levels, and by academics for teaching and research purposes at graduate and undergraduate levels. This chapter will provide an account of the unique e-business planning and analysis framework (E-PAF) and demonstrate how it works via an abridged version of a case study (selected from hundreds that have been produced). This will include a brief account of the three techniques that are integrated to form the analysis framework: quality function deployment (QFD) (Akao, 1972), the balanced scorecard (BSC) (Kaplan & Norton, 1992), and value chain analysis (VCA) (Porter, 1985). The case study extract is based on an online community and dating agency service identified as VirtualCom which has been produced through a consulting assignment with the founding directors of that company and has not been published previously. It has been chosen because it gives a concise, comprehensive example from an industry that is relatively easy to relate to.

The Front National:from systematic opposition to systemic integration?

For most of its existence, the Front National (FN) fitted the classic definition of the anti-system party, opposing the founding values, institutions and elites of the Fifth Republic. Now, under Marine Le Pen's leadership, it has embarked on a strategy to integrate to the regime it once defied. Does this strategy of normalisation bear scrutiny? Using a framework drawn from Giovanni Sartori and Robert Michels, this article asks whether the FN is a one-time anti-system party that is becoming mainstream, and also whether these simple oppositional categories are adequate for understanding ideological and policy evolution in the FN's case. Through an analysis of continuity and change in FN strategy and programmes, the article shows a party torn between anti-system differentiation and institutional adaptation. It may claim to have cast out its demons but has not undertaken the necessary moderation of its programme to substantiate that claim. The FN today is on no linear path of deradicalisation but exhibits a combination of consistent, diminished and increasing radicalism across different policy areas. Despite an upward dynamic and a hugely favourable context, it remains almost entirely excluded from power and far from the breakthrough required to become a party of government.

Free to publish - free to read

Full Text: August 2001 saw the birth of the British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease (Figure 1): an open-access peer review journal.1 Free to publish and free to read. The founding editorial board and publisher (MediNews Diabetes) aimed to deliver a free journal to the diabetes team and vascular professionals with a special interest in diabetes. Despite the shifting sands of time and a change of publisher (SAGE) the journal has remained true to its founding philosophy - publication is on merit, not on ability to pay and free online access remains available worldwide (www.bjdvd.com) plus an extensive – mainly UK - print circulation. Evolution- The journal attracted much attention and was soon receiving good quality experimental and clinical science manuscripts. However it was felt that these articles, especially experimental and pre-clinical studies, were not within the focus of the British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease, thus Diabetes & Vascular Disease Research was conceived –and is now also a SAGE journal and has an impact factor of 2.59. Over the years the organisation of topics has changed, for example the Healthcare management, The diabetes care team and Trans-cultural medicine sections have been absorbed into the Achieving Best Practice and Current Topics sections which better reflect the broader-based content of submitted material. Landmark Studies was a regular highly popular section – but how many truly Landmark Studies are undertaken? Not enough to warrant special attention 6 times a year for 12 years. Interestingly one of the studies reviewed is consistently amongst the top ten of our most read online articles.2 The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease has also challenged convention with the production of two Jubilee issues.3,4 The celebrations for the golden and diamond jubilees of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II afforded opportunities to reflect on changes in the understanding and treatment of diabetes during her reign. Most of the articles in these issues were written by authors who had first hand experience of the changing face of diabetes and vascular disease care. The increased costs of print and post – both financially and environmentally mean that digital communications are likely to become more popular (assuming that these approaches have a smaller ecological footprint). The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease is pleased to be able to celebrate its 12th birthday as an original open-access journal, with an ongoing commitment to support authors to publish free of charge whilst providing free reader access. As for what the future holds: tomorrow is another day. References 1.British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease 2001; 1: 1-92. 2.Levy J. Impotence and its medical and psychosocial correlates: results of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2002; 2: 278-80. 3.British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease. (Golden Jubilee Issue) 2002; 2: 415-480. 4.British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease. (Diamond Jubilee Issue) 2012; 12: 266-380.

Does start-up financing influence start-up speed? Evidence from the panel study of entrepreneurial dynamics

Why are some entrepreneurs able to start a new firm more quickly than others in the venture creation process? Drawing on pecking order and agency theory, this study investigates how start-up capital structure influences the time to either new firm founding or quitting the start-up process. The temporal aspect of the start-up process is one that is often discussed, but rarely studied. Therefore, we utilize competing risk and Cox regression event history analysis on a nationally representative sample of US entrepreneurs to investigate how start-up capital structure impacts the time in gestation to particular kinds of start-up outcomes. Our findings suggest that external equity has an appreciable impact on new firm emergence over time, and that the percentage of ownership held by the founders attenuates the benefits of external equity.

Revealing 4-hydroxynonenal-histidine adducts as qualitative and quantitative biomarker of oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and oxidative homeostasis

Findings on growth regulating activities of the end-product of lipid peroxidation 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), which acts as a “second messenger of free radicals”, overlapped with the development of antibodies specific for the aldehyde-protein adducts. These led to qualitative immunochemical determinations of the HNE presence in various pathophysiological processes and to the change of consideration of the aldehyde’s bioactivities from toxicity into cell signalling. Moreover, findings of the HNE-protein adduct in various organs under physiological circumstances support the concept of “oxidative homeostasis”, which implies that oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation are not only pathological but also physiological processes. Reactive aldehydes, at least HNE, could play important role in oxidative homeostasis, while complementary research approaches might reveal the relevance of the aldehydic-protein adducts as major biomarkers of oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and oxidative homeostasis. Aiming to join efforts in such research activities researchers interacting through the International 4-Hydroxynonenal Club acting within the SFRR-International and through networking projects of the system of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) carried validation of the methods for lipid peroxidation and further developed the genuine 4-HNE-His ELISA founding quantitative and qualitative methods for detection of 4-HNE-His adducts as valuable tool to study oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in cell cultures, various organs and tissues and eventually for human plasma and serum analyses [1]. Reference: 1. Weber, Daniela. Lidija, Milkovic. Measurement of HNE-protein adducts in human plasma and serum by ELISA—Comparison of two primary antibodies. Redox Biol. 2013. 226-233.