The role of trust and its evolution in distributed teams in a multinational organisation

Tutkimuksen päätavoitteena on ollut selvittää miten kansallinen ja organisaatiokulttuuri, niihin liittyvät normit ja arvot edesauttavat tai vaikeuttavat luottamuksen kehittymistä monikulttuurisissa tiimeissä maailmanlaajuisessa organisaatiossa. Tutkimuksen avulla haluttiin myös selvittää miten luottamus kehittyy hajautetuissa monikansallisissa tiimeissä WorldCom Internationalissa. Empiirinen tutkimusmenetelmä perustuu kvalitatiivisiin teemahaastatteluihin, jotka tehtiin WorldComin työntekijöille. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, ettei yhteisten sosiaalisten normien merkitys luottamuksen syntymiselle ole niin merkittävä, koska WorldComin yhtenäiset toimintatavat sekä hallitseva amerikkalaisen emoyhtiön "kotikulttuuri" muodostavat yhtenäiset toimintalinjat tiimeissä. Tietokonevälitteisen kommunikoinnin jatkuva käyttö on edesauttanut työntekijöiden ns. sosiaalisen älyn kehittymistä, sillä henkilökohtaisen tapaamisen puuttuminen kehittää vastaavasti taitoja aistia ja tulkita sähköpostien tai puhelinneuvotteluiden aikana välittyviä vastapuolen "näkymättömiä" vihjeitä.

Emerging environmental and weather challenges in outdoor sports

Given the climatic changes around the world and the growing outdoor sports participation, existing guidelines and recommendations for exercising in naturally challenging environments such as heat, cold or altitude, exhibit potential shortcomings. Continuous efforts from sport sciences and exercise physiology communities aim at minimizing the risks of environmental-related illnesses during outdoor sports practices. Despite this, the use of simple weather indices does not permit an accurate estimation of the likelihood of facing thermal illnesses. This provides a critical foundation to modify available human comfort modeling and to integrate bio-meteorological data in order to improve the current guidelines. Although it requires further refinement, there is no doubt that standardizing the recently developed Universal Thermal Climate Index approach and its application in the field of sport sciences and exercise physiology may help to improve the appropriateness of the current guidelines for outdoor, recreational and competitive sports participation. This review first summarizes the main environmental-related risk factors that are susceptible to increase with recent climate changes when exercising outside and offers recommendations to combat them appropriately. Secondly, we briefly address the recent development of thermal stress models to assess the thermal comfort and physiological responses when practicing outdoor activities in challenging environments.

Prevenció en lesions musculars en el futbol

Les lesions musculars són molt freqüents en el futbol, superant el 30% de totes les lesions; provocant una interrupció en la pràctica esportiva normal del jugador durant dies o setmanes. Així doncs, la prevenció és un factor molt important. L’objectiu d’aquest estudi és el disseny d’un pla integral preventiu de fisioteràpia englobant diferent àmbits: nutrició, salut muscular i preparació física, sempre dins la perspectiva de la salut; per poder amb l’avaluació d’aquest pla disminuir la incidència de lesions musculars en el futbol amateur. Aquesta pràctica de prevenció es durà a terme a un dels dos equips sèniors masculins de futbol aficionat que formaran part de l’estudi (grup d’intervenció), mentre que l’altre equip de característiques el més similars possibles seguirà la seva preparació habitual (grup control). Després d’una temporada es compararà la incidència de lesions musculars entre els dos equips. Si les dades demostren evidències, aquest pla es facilitarà al servei interessat corresponent, perquè el puguin distribuir als equips associats, podent disminuir el número de lesions i així reduir els costos en tractaments.

Commotion cérébrale chez l'enfant et l'adolescent sportif [Concussion in children and adolescents during sports].

Concussion, a frequent injury in sports, is rarely evoked and often trivialized in children and teenagers. Knowledge of the diverse symptoms and signs to seek for is essential to an appropriate and secure management. The initial treatment relies on cognitive and physical rest followed by a progressive return to school and subsequently sport activities. The aim of this article is to review an injury whose prognosis is generally favourable, but whose rare complications can prove dramatic.

En respuesta a la ONU : ¿Es el fútbol un indicador del progreso y desarrollo en la esfera internacional?

[spa] El objetivo de este trabajo es corroborar la afirmación de la ONU de que el deporte es una herramienta poderosa para el progreso y el desarrollo. En este contexto, examinamos si el fútbol puede considerarse un indicador de desarrollo a nivel internacional. Un modelo empírico econométrico se diseña con el fin de analizar el desarrollo en términos de PIB per cápita, así como en términos del Índice de Desarrollo Humano. Se utiliza información transversal y temporal. Los resultados sugieren que la clasificación de la FIFA de selecciones nacionales puede ser utilizada para complementar nuestra comprensión del desarrollo multidimensional, en particular, en aquellos países donde la disponibilidad de información no es tan buena como los investigadores desearían.

En respuesta a la ONU : ¿Es el fútbol un indicador del progreso y desarrollo en la esfera internacional?

[spa] El objetivo de este trabajo es corroborar la afirmación de la ONU de que el deporte es una herramienta poderosa para el progreso y el desarrollo. En este contexto, examinamos si el fútbol puede considerarse un indicador de desarrollo a nivel internacional. Un modelo empírico econométrico se diseña con el fin de analizar el desarrollo en términos de PIB per cápita, así como en términos del Índice de Desarrollo Humano. Se utiliza información transversal y temporal. Los resultados sugieren que la clasificación de la FIFA de selecciones nacionales puede ser utilizada para complementar nuestra comprensión del desarrollo multidimensional, en particular, en aquellos países donde la disponibilidad de información no es tan buena como los investigadores desearían.

En respuesta a la ONU : ¿Es el fútbol un indicador del progreso y desarrollo en la esfera internacional?

[spa] El objetivo de este trabajo es corroborar la afirmación de la ONU de que el deporte es una herramienta poderosa para el progreso y el desarrollo. En este contexto, examinamos si el fútbol puede considerarse un indicador de desarrollo a nivel internacional. Un modelo empírico econométrico se diseña con el fin de analizar el desarrollo en términos de PIB per cápita, así como en términos del Índice de Desarrollo Humano. Se utiliza información transversal y temporal. Los resultados sugieren que la clasificación de la FIFA de selecciones nacionales puede ser utilizada para complementar nuestra comprensión del desarrollo multidimensional, en particular, en aquellos países donde la disponibilidad de información no es tan buena como los investigadores desearían.

From the Olympic dream to a down to earth approach: Lausanne's sports events hosting strategy

In the context of globalized competition among territories, cities, regions and countries have to find new ways to be attractive to companies, investors, tourists and residents. In that perspective, major sports events (such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup) are often seen as a lever for territorial development. Based on that idea, many sports events hosting strategies have emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the growing competition in the sports events' market and the gigantism of those major events, forced some territories to turn to smaller events. This necessary resize of their strategy raises the question of their capacity to meet the initial objectives, which aim usually at developing the economy and promoting the image of the host destination. This essay sketches out the evolution of a sports events hosting strategy in a city that does not have the resources (either financial, human or in terms of infrastructures) to attract major international sports events. The challenges they have to face and a possible solution based on the event portfolio perspective are discussed through the article.

Communication challenges in virtual teams – a case study of implementing computer-mediated communication technologies in inter-organisational virtual teams

This thesis seeks to answer, if communication challenges in virtual teams can be overcome with the help of computer-mediated communication. Virtual teams are becoming more common work method in many global companies. In order for virtual teams to reach their maximum potential, effective asynchronous and synchronous methods for communication are needed. The thesis covers communication in virtual teams, as well as leadership and trust building in virtual environments with the help of CMC. First, the communication challenges in virtual teams are identified by using a framework of knowledge sharing barriers in virtual teams by Rosen et al. (2007) Secondly, the leadership and trust in virtual teams are defined in the context of CMC. The performance of virtual teams is evaluated in the case study by exploiting these three dimensions. With the help of a case study of two virtual teams, the practical issues related to selecting and implementing communication technologies as well as overcoming knowledge sharing barriers is being discussed. The case studies involve a complex inter-organisational setting, where four companies are working together in order to maintain a new IT system. The communication difficulties are related to inadequate communication technologies, lack of trust and the undefined relationships of the stakeholders and the team members. As a result, it is suggested that communication technologies are needed in order to improve the virtual team performance, but are not however solely capable of solving the communication challenges in virtual teams. In addition, suitable leadership and trust between team members are required in order to improve the knowledge sharing and communication in virtual teams.

CSR : a new governance approach for regulating professional sport ? : the case of french professionnal sports clubs

The purpose of this paper is to examine the CSR practices and their implementation in the context of French professional sports clubs. In doing so, it analyses the link between the governance of sports clubs and CSR, which is viewed as a component of governance expanded to stakeholders and contributing to the creation of shared value. Drawing on interview data with key stakeholders of four professional sport clubs (football and basketball) and secondary material, the study sheds light on the determinants, the implementation as well as the impact of CSR on the governance of the professional clubs under examination.