Professional standards research:job satisfaction and innovation

Job satisfaction is a significant predictor of organisational innovation – especially where employees (including shop-floor workers) experience variety in their jobs and work in a single-status environment. The relationship between job satisfaction and performance has long intrigued work psychologists. The idea that "happy workers are productive workers" underpins many theories of performance, leadership, reward and job design. But contrary to popular belief, the relationship between job satisfaction and performance at individual level has been shown to be relatively weak. Research investigating the link between job satisfaction and creativity (the antecedent to innovation) shows that job dissatisfaction promotes creative outcomes. The logic is that those who are dissatisfied (and have decided to stay with the organisation) are determined to change things and have little to lose in doing so (see JM George & J Zhou, 2002). We were therefore surprised to find in the course of our own research into managerial practices and employee attitudes in manufacturing organisations that job satisfaction was a highly significant predictor of product and technological innovation. These results held even though the research was conducted longitudinally, over two years, while controlling for prior innovation. In other words, job satisfaction was a stronger predictor of innovation than any pre-existing orientation organisations had towards working innovatively. Using prior innovation as a control variable, as well as a longitudinal research design, strengthened our case against the argument that people are satisfied because they belong to a highly innovative organisation. We found that the relationship between job satisfaction and innovation was stronger still where organisations showed that they were committed to promoting job variety, especially at shop-floor level. We developed precise instruments to measure innovation, taking into account the magnitude of the innovation both in terms of the number of people involved in its implementation, and how new and different it was. Using this instrument, we are able to give each organisation in our sample a "score" from one to seven for innovation in areas ranging from administration to production technology. We found that much innovation is incremental, involving relatively minor improvements, rather than major change. To achieve sustained innovation, organisations have to draw on the skills and knowledge of employees at all levels. We also measured job satisfaction at organisational level, constructing a mean "job satisfaction" score for all organisations in our sample, and drawing only on those companies whose employees tended to respond in a similar manner to the questions they were asked. We argue that where most of the workforce experience job satisfaction, employees are more likely to collaborate, to share ideas and aim for high standards because people are keen to sustain their positive feelings. Job variety and single-status arrangements further strengthen the relationship between satisfaction and performance. This makes sense; where employees experience variety, they are exposed to new and different ideas and, provided they feel positive about their jobs, are likely to be willing to try to apply these ideas to improve their jobs. Similarly, staff working in single-status environments where hierarchical barriers are reduced are likely to feel trusted and valued by management and there is evidence (see G Jones & J George, 1998) that people work collaboratively and constructively with those they trust. Our study suggests that there is a strong business case for promoting employee job satisfaction. Managers and HR practitioners need to ensure their strategies and practices support and sustain job satisfaction among their workforces to encourage constructive, collaborative and creative working. It is more important than ever for organisations to respond rapidly to demands of the external environment. This study shows the positive association between organisational-level job satisfaction and innovation. So if a happy workforce is the key to unlocking innovation and organisations want to thrive in the global economy, it is vital that managers and HR practitioners pay close attention to employee perceptions of the work environment. In a world where the most innovative survive it could make all the difference.

Justice and morality:human suffering, natural law and international politics

Bridging the contending theories of natural law and international relations, this book proposes a 'relational ontology' as the basis for rethinking our approach to international politics. The book contains a number of challenging and controversial ideas on the study of international political thought which should provoke constructive debate within international relations theory, political theory, and philosophical ethics. © Amanda Russell Beattie 2010. All rights reserved.

Metaphors in spoken academic discourse in german and english

Metaphors have been increasingly associated with cognitive functions, which means that metaphors structure how we think and express ourselves. Metaphors are embodied in our basic physical experience, which is one reason why certain abstract concepts are expressed in more concrete terms, such as visible entities, journeys, and other types of movement, spaces etc. This communicative relevance also applies to specialised, institutionalised settings and genres, such as those produced in or related to higher education institutions, among which is spoken academic discourse. A significant research gap has been identified regarding spoken academic discourse and metaphors therein, but also given the fact that with increasing numbers of students in higher education and international research and cooperation e.g. in the form of invited lectures, spoken academic discourse can be seen as nearly omnipresent. In this context, research talks are a key research genre. A mixed methods study has been conducted, which investigates metaphors in a corpus of eight fully transcribed German and English L1 speaker conference talks and invited lectures, totalling to 440 minutes. A wide range of categories and functions were identified in the corpus. Abstract research concepts, such as results or theories are expressed in terms of concrete visual entities that can be seen or shown, but also in terms of journeys or other forms of movement. The functions of these metaphors are simplification, rhetorical emphasis, theory-construction, or pedagogic illustration. For both the speaker and the audience or discussants, anthropomorphism causes abstract and complex ideas to become concretely imaginable and at the same time more interesting because the contents of the talk appear to be livelier and hence closer to their own experience, which ensures the audience’s attention. These metaphor categories are present in both the English and the German sub corpus of this study with similar functions.

Caste, class and Trade Unionism in India

The caste system in India and its exploitative nature has been well researched (Siddique 2011 Gupta 2000). However, the role of caste in Indian employment relations and in particular its role in the labor movement in India is yet to be fully explored. The primary aim of this paper is to examine the rise of caste- based trade unions in India over the past decade. Specifically, we aim to examine why the lower-caste workers (historically treated as untouchables, referred to as ‘Dalits’and officially designated as Scheduled Caste and Tribes) are leaving established trade unions to organize their own unions along caste lines? While fragmentation of trade unions is a well-known phenomenon both in India and in the Western World (Shyam Sundar 2015; Connolly et al. 2014), the rise of caste based trade unions is a relatively new phenomenon which is yet to be fully explored. Caste based trade unionism appears to be counter-intuitive when the conventional logic suggests that unions are class based collective institutions which represent the interest of the working classes (Ramaswamy 1976). The Indian trade union movement has historically been fragmented along political ideological lines ranging from moderate unions affiliated to the Congress Party to the militant unions affiliated to the Communist and Socialist parties. However, the rise of caste-based trade unions of the lower caste workers is a relatively new phenomenon. Our findings from surveys and interviews with mainstream unions and caste-based trade unions suggest that the caste-based trade unions are unique in at least three ways. First, these unions are breaking away from well-established radical and militant union federations such as those affiliated to the Communist and Socialist parties. Second, these unions are predominantly organized on caste identities and not occupational identities or political ideologies. Third in unionized workplaces, lower caste workers are forming their own separate unions along caste lines with membership restricted only to workers of their own caste instead of joining the mainstream unions where present. We examine these issues using the analytical framework of Paulo Freire (1970) – dialogics, praxis and cultural oppression and relate it with the insights from comparative politics which examine the role of actors & their interests within institutions (Peters 2011).

Effect of polymorph derived oxidants on IgG in relation to rheumatoid factor binding

Immunoglobulin G from rheumatoid patients is denatured around the hinge region. This has been proposed as an explanation for the presence of circulating autoantibodies to IgG in these patients. It has previously been suggested that oxygen radicals (OR) derived from activated polymorphs may play a role in denaturation in vivo. Using sera from rheumatoid patients and age-matched controls in a modified ELISA technique, we have investigated the potential for polyclonal rheumatoid factors (RF) to bind to OR denatured IgG. Three model systems were used to generate OR in vitro: (a) purified PMN s activated by the cell surface stimulant PMA, (b) radiolysis of IgG in solution to generate specifically the superoxide radical and, in a separate system, the hydroxyl radical, (OH.), (c) purified myeloperoxide in the presence of H2O2 and halide ions. Results: 1. The binding of both IgA and IgM RF s to PMN denatured IgG increased dose dependently for seropositive sera only. 2. The OH. radical but not the superoxide radical significantly increased the binding of IgA and M RF, again only for seropositive sera. 3. The myeloperoxidase enzyme system did not increase RF binding. 4. IgG incubated with elastase was not found to be a better antigen than native IgG. These results indicate that IgG is denatured by OR released from activated PMN, thereby producing an antigen for polyclonal RF s.

Governance in contemporary Germany:the semisovereign State revisited

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, West Germany was considered to be one of the world’s most successful economic and political systems. In his seminal 1987 analysis of West Germany’s ‘semisovereign’ system of governance, Peter Katzenstein attributed this success to a combination of a fragmented polity, consensus politics and incremental policy changes. However, unification in 1990 has both changed Germany’s institutional configuration and created economic and social challenges on a huge scale. This volume therefore asks whether semisovereignty still exists in contemporary Germany and, crucially, whether it remains an asset in terms of addressing these challenges. By shadowing and building on the original study, an eminent team of British, German and American scholars analyses institutional changes and the resulting policy developments in key sectors, with Peter Katzenstein himself providing the conclusion. Together, the chapters provide a landmark assessment of the outcomes produced by one of the world’s most important countries. Contents: 1. Introduction: semisovereignty challenged Simon Green and William E. Paterson; 2. Institutional transfer: can semisovereignty be transferred? The political economy of Eastern Germany Wade Jacoby; 3. Political parties Thomas Saalfeld; 4. Federalism: the new territorialism Charlie Jeffery; 5. Shock-absorbers under stress. Parapublic institutions and the double challenges of German unification and European integration Andreas Busch; 6. Economic policy management: catastrophic equilibrium, tipping points and crisis interventions Kenneth Dyson; 7. Industrial relations: from state weakness as strength to state weakness as weakness. Welfare corporatism and the private use of the public interest Wolfgang Streeck; 8. Social policy: crisis and transformation Roland Czada; 9. Immigration and integration policy: between incrementalism and non-decisions Simon Green; 10. Environmental policy: the law of diminishing returns? Charles Lees; 11. Administrative reform Kluas H. Goetz; 12. European policy-making: between associated sovereignty and semisovereignty William E. Paterson; 13. Conclusion: semisovereignty in United Germany Peter J. Katzenstein.

The semiology of changing brand image

This article considers the attempted change to the image of an established brand by studying the semiotics within the brand’s historical advertising campaigns. The use of semiotics to study the interpretation of messages is discussed, and the link between interpretation of messages and advertising effectiveness in changing brand image is explored. The authors deconstruct advertisements of a brand to provide a model containing opposing dialectics that may aid managers by highlighting alternative symbolic messages contained in advertisements. Oncwe identified, these alternative symbolic messages may be used to help change brand image and influence advertising effectiveness. Although the study focuses upon a major brand of beer, this is an industry in which there are numerous small firms, and many of those have constrained marketing budgets, and thus need to make sure that their advertising is effective. Equally, entrepreneurial marketing is not to found only in the small firm, and the case study discusses a radical and imaginative brand repositioning of a well established product.

The effects of ionising radiation on polypropylene

The interaction of ionising radiation with polymers is described and the literature relating; to the effects on polypropylene is reviewed. Oxidative and free radical reactions are discussed with particular reference to post-irradiationeffects.Isotactic and atactic polypropylene were δ and electron irradiated to doses of up to 20 megarad. Irradiations weremainly made in air. A series of other polymers were also irradiated in a preliminary survey. Molar mass measurements are used to measure the radiationyield for chain scission G (s). Irradiation at room temperature causes significantly more chain scission than at 195K. Additional chain scission occurs on storage following irradiation at 195 K. Free radical concentrations are determined by electron spin resonance, and the decay rates measured. The radical formed in air is a peroxy radical and in vacuo is a hydrocarbon radical. At77K in vacuo the radical is -CH2 - C* (CH3) - CH2 - but additional radicals are produced on warning to room temperature. The effects of increasing tenparature on radicals formed in air are described. Electron spin resonance studies on atactic polypropylene,and isotactic polypropylene in hydrogen, sulphur dioxide and nitric oxide are reported.. The melting temperatures, spherulite growth rates, and isothermal crystallisation rates of irradiated polypropylene are compared to those of the non-irradiated polymer. Crystallisation is found to proceed with an Avrami integer n = 2. At a given crystallisation temperature, the overall crystallisation rate of irradiated polymer is less than the non-irradiated, but spherulite growth rates are identical. Thermogravimetric analysis is used to assess the thermal stability of irradiated polypropylene in nitrogen, air and oxygen. Hydroperoxide analysis is used to show that several molecules of oxygen are absorbed for each initial radical, and that hydroperoxides continue to be formed for a long period following irradiation. Possible solutions for minimising irradiation and post-irradiation degradation are suggested, together with some problems for further study.

Free radicals as potential antitumour agents

The aim of this work was to use extremely low concentrations of free radical generating compounds as a 'catalyst' to trigger endogenous free radical chain reactions in the host and to selectively eliminate neoplastic cells in the host. To test the hypothesis, a number of free radical generating compounds were screened on several malignant cell lines in vitro to select model compounds that were used against tumour models in vivo. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and its derivatives were selected at the model compounds for in vivo experiments in view of their high cytotoxic potency against several malignant cell lines in vitro. The water soluble derivative, 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2', 4'-dinitro-6'-sulphophenyl) hydrazyl (DDSH) given by subcutaneous injections demonstrated significant antitumour activities against the MAC 16 murine colon adenocarcinoma implanted subcutaneously in male NMRI mice at nanomolar concentration range. 40-60% of long term survival of over 60 days was achieved (compared with control survival of 20 days) with total tumour elimination. This compound was also active against both P388 leukaemia in male BDF1 mice and TLX5 lymphoid tumour in male CBA/CA mice at a similar concentration range. However, some of these animals died suddenly after treatment with no evidence of disease present at post mortem. The cause of death was unknown but thought to be related to the treatment. There was significant increase in serum level of malondialdehyde (MDA) following treatment, but did not correlate to the antitumour activities of these compounds. Induction of supcroxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) occurred around day 8 after the administration of DDSH. Histological sections of MAC16 tumours showed areas of extensive massive haemorrhagic necrosis and vascular collapse associated with perivascular cell death following the administration of nanomolar concentration of DDSH which was probably compatible with the effects of free radicals. It was concluded that the antitumour activities of these compounds may be related to free radical and cytokine production.

Iterative subspace analysis based on feature line distance

Nearest feature line-based subspace analysis is first proposed in this paper. Compared with conventional methods, the newly proposed one brings better generalization performance and incremental analysis. The projection point and feature line distance are expressed as a function of a subspace, which is obtained by minimizing the mean square feature line distance. Moreover, by adopting stochastic approximation rule to minimize the objective function in a gradient manner, the new method can be performed in an incremental mode, which makes it working well upon future data. Experimental results on the FERET face database and the UCI satellite image database demonstrate the effectiveness.

Managers' perceptual errors revisited:the role of knowledge calibration

Insights from the stream of research on knowledge calibration, which refers to the correspondence between accuracy and confidence in knowledge, enable a better understanding of consequences of inaccurate perceptions of managers. This paper examines the consequences of inaccurate managerial knowledge through the lens of knowledge calibration. Specifically, the paper examines the antecedent role of miscalibration of knowledge in strategy formation. It is postulated that miscalibrated managers who overestimate external factors and display a high level of confidence in their estimates are likely to enact strategies that are relatively more evolutionary and incremental in nature, whereas miscalibrated managers who overestimate internal factors and display a high level of confidence in their estimates are likely to enact strategies that are relatively more discontinuous and disruptive in nature. Perspectives from social cognitive theory provide support for the underlying processes. The paper, in part, explains the paradox of the prevalence of inaccurate managerial perceptions and efficacious performance. It also advances the literature on strategy formation through the application of the construct of knowledge calibration.

Toward an organizational cognitive neuroscience

The research strategy adopted in this article is to connect two different discourses and the ideas, methods, and outputs they contain—these being cognitive neuroscience and organization theory. The main contribution of the article is to present an agenda for the field of organizational cognitive neuroscience. We define what is meant by the term, outline its background, identify why it is important as a new research direction, and then conclude by drawing on Damasio's levels of life regulation as a framework to bind together existing organizational cognitive neuroscience. The article begins by setting the wider debate behind the emergence of organizational cognitive neuroscience by revisiting the nature–nurture debate and uses Pinker to demonstrate that the connection between mind and matter has not been resolved, that new directions are opening up to better understand human nature, and that organizational cognitive neuroscience is one fruitful path forward.

A model to assess the cost effectiveness of statins in achieving the UK National Service Framework target cholesterol levels

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a public health priority in the UK. The National Service Framework (NSF) has set standards for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of CHD, which include the use of cholesterol-lowering agents aimed at achieving targets of blood total cholesterol (TC) < 5.0 mmol/L and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) < 3.0 mmol/L. In order to achieve these targets cost effectively, prescribers need to make an informed choice from the range of statins available. Aim: To estimate the average and relative cost effectiveness of atorvastatin, fluvastatin, pravastatin and simvastatin in achieving the NSF LDL-C and TC targets. Design: Model-based economic evaluation. Methods: An economic model was constructed to estimate the number of patients achieving the NSF targets for LDL-C and TC at each dose of statin, and to calculate the average drug cost and incremental drug cost per patient achieving the target levels. The population baseline LDL-C and TC, and drug efficacy and drug costs were taken from previously published data. Estimates of the distribution of patients receiving each dose of statin were derived from the UK national DIN-LINK database. Results: The estimated annual drug cost per 1000 patients treated with atorvastatin was £289 000, with simvastatin £315 000, with pravastatin £333 000 and with fluvastatin £167 000. The percentages of patients achieving target are 74.4%, 46.4%, 28.4% and 13.2% for atorvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin and fluvastatin, respectively. Incremental drug cost per extra patient treated to LDL-C and TC targets compared with fluvastafin were £198 and £226 for atorvastatin, £443 and £567 for simvastatin and £1089 and £2298 for pravastatin, using 2002 drug costs. Conclusions: As a result of its superior efficacy, atorvastatin generates a favourable cost-effectiveness profile as measured by drug cost per patient treated to LDL-C and TC targets. For a given drug budget, more patients would achieve NSF LDL-C and TC targets with atorvastatin than with any of the other statins examined.

Preface

The Semantic Web has come a long way since its inception in 2001, especially in terms of technical development and research progress. However, adoption by non- technical practitioners is still an ongoing process, and in some areas this process is just now starting. Emergency response is an area where reliability and timeliness of information and technologies is of essence. Therefore it is quite natural that more widespread adoption in this area has not been seen until now, when Semantic Web technologies are mature enough to support the high requirements of the application area. Nevertheless, to leverage the full potential of Semantic Web research results for this application area, there is need for an arena where practitioners and researchers can meet and exchange ideas and results. Our intention is for this workshop, and hopefully coming workshops in the same series, to be such an arena for discussion. The Extended Semantic Web Conference (ESWC - formerly the European Semantic Web conference) is one of the major research conferences in the Semantic Web field, whereas this is a suitable location for this workshop in order to discuss the application of Semantic Web technology to our specific area of applications. Hence, we chose to arrange our first SMILE workshop at ESWC 2013. However, this workshop does not focus solely on semantic technologies for emergency response, but rather Semantic Web technologies in combination with technologies and principles for what is sometimes called the "social web". Social media has already been used successfully in many cases, as a tool for supporting emergency response. The aim of this workshop is therefore to take this to the next level and answer questions like: "how can we make sense of, and furthermore make use of, all the data that is produced by different kinds of social media platforms in an emergency situation?" For the first edition of this workshop the chairs collected the following main topics of interest: • Semantic Annotation for understanding the content and context of social media streams. • Integration of Social Media with Linked Data. • Interactive Interfaces and visual analytics methodologies for managing multiple large-scale, dynamic, evolving datasets. • Stream reasoning and event detection. • Social Data Mining. • Collaborative tools and services for Citizens, Organisations, Communities. • Privacy, ethics, trustworthiness and legal issues in the Social Semantic Web. • Use case analysis, with specific interest for use cases that involve the application of Social Media and Linked Data methodologies in real-life scenarios. All of these, applied in the context of: • Crisis and Disaster Management • Emergency Response • Security and Citizen Journalism The workshop received 6 high-quality paper submissions and based on a thorough review process, thanks to our program committee, the decision was made to accept four of these papers for the workshop (67% acceptance rate). These four papers can be found later in this proceedings volume. Three out of four of these papers particularly discuss the integration and analysis of social media data, using Semantic Web technologies, e.g. for detecting complex events in social media streams, for visualizing and analysing sentiments with respect to certain topics in social media, or for detecting small-scale incidents entirely through the use of social media information. Finally, the fourth paper presents an architecture for using Semantic Web technologies in resource management during a disaster. Additionally, the workshop featured an invited keynote speech by Dr. Tomi Kauppinen from Aalto university. Dr. Kauppinen shared experiences from his work on applying Semantic Web technologies to application fields such as geoinformatics and scientific research, i.e. so-called Linked Science, but also recent ideas and applications in the emergency response field. His input was also highly valuable for the roadmapping discussion, which was held at the end of the workshop. A separate summary of the roadmapping session can be found at the end of these proceedings. Finally, we would like to thank our invited speaker Dr. Tomi Kauppinen, all our program committee members, as well as the workshop chair of ESWC2013, Johanna Völker (University of Mannheim), for helping us to make this first SMILE workshop a highly interesting and successful event!

How education should link with career paths

How good is your pharmacy practice? And what does “good” look like? Take a look back at the education and training you have received in your career to date. Has it stood you in good stead? Certainly there is a need to establish a model of professional education and development that produces good pharmacists — you should be able to demonstrate your competence regardless of your sector of work. It may help if we move away from the view that excellence in pharmacy practice is primarily defined by where you practise and the kind of job that you do. The Modernising Pharmacy Careers programme’s aspirations to integrate the undergraduate degree with the preregistration training year are bold and to be applauded — provided the outcome delivers changes that are more than superficial. The new model needs to deliver greater integration of education with practice, while retaining an adequate science base. Theory should be put into the context of practice-based, cross-sector learning needs and opportunities. For example, is the classroom really the best environment in which to learn dispensing? Pharmacokinetic theory could be put into context through creatively designed work placements. And it might make more sense to learn patient counselling in a community pharmacy, and so on. Is it resources we lack to make this happen? Or do we lack the collective will to be imaginative, to be radical and to conceive new approaches to professional education? Implicit in this new approach to education is the expectation that pharmacists should teach and mentor and, conversely, that those who teach should also engage in relevant practice. University education must produce graduates whose knowledge and competence are useful to employers. Moreover, graduates must be adequately prepared to enter any area of the profession endowed with professional self-confidence (something, arguably, that needs further development within the pharmacy psyche). Of course, becoming qualified is just the beginning. Post-qualification, pharmacists need structured career paths that foster this professional confidence, support learning and ensure recognition. To this end, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society-led professional curriculum group is working to define knowledge, skills and experience for all areas of advanced practice. More than ever, the profession needs to adopt a culture of learning, teaching and practice research that is unified. The question is: how do we move away from merely collecting qualifications (trophies) to developing meaningful careers? Pharmacists in all areas and at all levels of the profession need to consider their own willingness to make this shift. The RPS and MPC are leading the way, but are we following?