HRM in context:applicability of HRM models in India

Using the core aspects of five main models of human resource management (HRM), this article investigates the dominant HRM practices in the Indian manufacturing sector. The evaluation is conducted in the context of the recently liberalized economic environment. In response to ever-increasing levels of globalization of business, the article initially highlights the need for more cross-national comparative HRM research. Then it briefly analyzes the five models of HRM (namely, the `Matching model'; the `Harvard model'; the `Contextual model'; the `5-P model'; and the `European model') and identifies the main research questions emerging from these that could be used to reveal and highlight the HRM practices in different national/regional settings. The findings of the research are based on a questionnaire survey of 137 large Indian firms and 24 in-depth interviews in as many firms. The examination not only helped to present the scenario of HRM practices in the Indian context but also the logic dictating the presence of such practices. The article contributes to the fields of cross-national HRM and industrial relations research. It also has key messages for policy makers and opens avenues for further research.

Numerical Q parameter estimates for scalar and vector models in optical communication system simulations

The Q parameter scales differently with the noise power for the signal-noise and the noise-noise beating terms in scalar and vector models. Some procedures for including noise in the scalar model largely under-estimate the Q parameter. We propose a simple method for including noise within a scalar model which will allow both the noise-noise dominated limit and the signal-noise dominated limit to be treated consistently. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Are poor mathematics skills associated with visual deficits in temporal processing?

Developmental learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dyscalculia have a high rate of co-occurrence in pediatric populations, suggesting that they share underlying cognitive and neurophysiological mechanisms. Dyslexia and other developmental disorders with a strong heritable component have been associated with reduced sensitivity to coherent motion stimuli, an index of visual temporal processing on a millisecond time-scale. Here we examined whether deficits in sensitivity to visual motion are evident in children who have poor mathematics skills relative to other children of the same age. We obtained psychophysical thresholds for visual coherent motion and a control task from two groups of children who differed in their performance on a test of mathematics achievement. Children with math skills in the lowest 10% in their cohort were less sensitive than age-matched controls to coherent motion, but they had statistically equivalent thresholds to controls on a coherent form control measure. Children with mathematics difficulties therefore tend to present a similar pattern of visual processing deficit to those that have been reported previously in other developmental disorders. We speculate that reduced sensitivity to temporally defined stimuli such as coherent motion represents a common processing deficit apparent across a range of commonly co-occurring developmental disorders.

Lewy body and Alzheimer pathology in temporal lobe in dementia with Lewy bodies

The density of Lewy bodies (LB), senile plaques (SP), and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) was studied in the temporal lobe in four patients diagnosed with ‘pure’ dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and eight patients diagnosed with DLB with associated Alzheimer’s disease (DLB/AD). In both patient groups, the density of LB was greatest in the lateral occipitotemporal gyrus (LOT) and least in areaas CA1 and CA4 of the hippocampus. In DLB/AD, the densities of SP and NFT were greatest in the cortical regions and in area CA1 of the hippocampus respectively. Mean LB densities in the temporal lobe were similar in ‘pure’ DLB and DLB/AD patients but mean SP and NFT densities were greater in DLB/AD. No significant correlations were observed between the densities of LB, SP and NFT in any brain region. The data suggest that in the temporal lobe LB and SP/NFT are distributed differently; SP and NFT in DLB/AD are distributed similarly to ‘pure’ AD and also that LB and AD pathologies appear to develop independently. Hence, the data support the hypothesis that some cases of DLB combine the features of DLB and AD.

Range of validity of weakly non-linear theory in Rayleigh-Bénard problem

In this paper we examine the equilibrium states of finite amplitude flow in a horizontal fluid layer with differential heating between the two rigid boundaries. The solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations are obtained by means of a perturbation method for evaluating the Landau constants and through a Newton-Raphson iterative method that results from the Fourier expansion of the solutions that bifurcate above the linear stability threshold of infinitesimal disturbances. The results obtained from these two different methods of evaluating the convective flow are compared in the neighborhood of the critical Rayleigh number. We find that for small Prandtl numbers the discrepancy of the two methods is noticeable. © 2009 The Physical Society of Japan.

The use of metaphors as models in religious discourse, with special reference to implications for syllabuses in religious education

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Range of validity of weakly non-linear theory in Rayleigh-Bénard convection

In this paper we examine the equilibrium states of periodic finite amplitude flow in a horizontal channel with differential heating between the two rigid boundaries. The solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations are obtained by means of a perturbation method for evaluating the Landau coefficients and through a Newton-Raphson iterative method that results from the Fourier expansion of the solutions that bifurcate above the linear stability threshold of infini- tesimal disturbances. The results obtained from these two different methods of evaluating the convective flow are compared in the neighbourhood of the critical Rayleigh number. We find that for small Prandtl numbers the discrepancy of the two methods is noticeable.

Constructing institutional change: emergence, contestation and convergence of business models in the field of Java application servers

How are innovative new business models established if organizations constantly compare themselves against existing criteria and expectations? The objective is to address this question from the perspective of innovators and their ability to redefine established expectations and evaluation criteria. The research questions ask whether there are discernible patterns of discursive action through which innovators theorize institutional change and what role such theorizations play for mobilizing support and realizing change projects. These questions are investigated through a case study on a critical area of enterprise computing software, Java application servers. In the present case, business practices and models were already well established among incumbents with critical market areas allocated to few dominant firms. Fringe players started experimenting with a new business approach of selling services around freely available opensource application servers. While most new players struggled, one new entrant succeeded in leading incumbents to adopt and compete on the new model. The case demonstrates that innovative and substantially new models and practices are established in organizational fields when innovators are able to refine expectations and evaluation criteria within an organisational field. The study addresses the theoretical paradox of embedded agency. Actors who are embedded in prevailing institutional logics and structures find it hard to perceive potentially disruptive opportunities that fall outside existing ways of doing things. Changing prevailing institutional logics and structures requires strategic and institutional work aimed at overcoming barriers to innovation. The study addresses this problem through the lens of (new) institutional theory. This discourse methodology traces the process through which innovators were able to establish a new social and business model in the field.

New career models in UK professional service firms:from up-or-out to up-and-going-nowhere?

In this paper, we empirically examine how professional service firms are adapting their promotion and career models to new market and institutional pressures, without losing the benefits of the traditional up-or-out tournament. Based on an in-depth qualitative study of 10 large UK based law firms we find that most of these firms do not have a formal up-or-out policy but that the up-or-out rule operates in practice. We also find that most firms have introduced alternative roles and a novel career policy that offers a holistic learning and development deal to associates without any expectation that unsuccessful candidates for promotion to partner should quit the firm. While this policy and the new roles formally contradict the principle of up-or-out by creating permanent non-partner positions, in practice they coexist. We conclude that the motivational power of the up-or-out tournament remains intact, notwithstanding the changes to the internal labour market structure of these professional service firms.

Mitigating the obsolescence of quality specifications models in service-based systems

Requirements-aware systems address the need to reason about uncertainty at runtime to support adaptation decisions, by representing quality of services (QoS) requirements for service-based systems (SBS) with precise values in run-time queryable model specification. However, current approaches do not support updating of the specification to reflect changes in the service market, like newly available services or improved QoS of existing ones. Thus, even if the specification models reflect design-time acceptable requirements they may become obsolete and miss opportunities for system improvement by self-adaptation. This articles proposes to distinguish "abstract" and "concrete" specification models: the former consists of linguistic variables (e.g. "fast") agreed upon at design time, and the latter consists of precise numeric values (e.g. "2ms") that are dynamically calculated at run-time, thus incorporating up-to-date QoS information. If and when freshly calculated concrete specifications are not satisfied anymore by the current service configuration, an adaptation is triggered. The approach was validated using four simulated SBS that use services from a previously published, real-world dataset; in all cases, the system was able to detect unsatisfied requirements at run-time and trigger suitable adaptations. Ongoing work focuses on policies to determine recalculation of specifications. This approach will allow engineers to build SBS that can be protected against market-caused obsolescence of their requirements specifications. © 2012 IEEE.

An application of linear programming in the pottery industry

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Dynamics of linear polymers in random media

We study phenomenological scaling theories of the polymer dynamics in random media, employing the existing scaling theories of polymer chains and the percolation statistics. We investigate both the Rouse and the Zimm model for Brownian dynamics and estimate the diffusion constant of the center-of-mass of the chain in such disordered media. For internal dynamics of the chain, we estimate the dynamic exponents. We propose similar scaling theory for the reptation dynamics of the chain in the framework of Flory theory for the disordered medium. The modifications in the case of correlated disorders are also discussed. .

The use of maturity models in improving project management performance:an empirical investigation

Purpose – The purpose of the paper was to conduct an empirical investigation to explore the impact of project management maturity models (PMMMs) on improving project performance. Design/methodology/approach – The investigation used a cross-case analysis involving over 90 individuals in seven organisations. Findings – The findings of the empirical investigation indicate that PMMMs demonstrate very high levels of variability in individual's assessment of project management maturity. Furthermore, at higher levels of maturity, the type of performance improvement adopted following their application is related to the type of PMMM used in the assessment. The paradox of the unreliability of PMMMs and their widespread acceptance is resolved by calling upon the “wisdom of crowds” phenomenon which has implications for the use of maturity model assessments in other arena. Research limitations/implications – The investigation does have the usual issues associated with case research, but the steps that have been taken in the cross-case construction and analysis have improved the overall robustness and extendibility of the findings. Practical implications – The tendency for PMMMs to shape improvements based on their own inherent structure needs further understanding. Originality/value – The use of empirical methods to investigate the link between project maturity models and extant changes in project management performance is highly novel and the findings that result from this have added resonance.