Extending Alexander’s ecological dominance-social competition model : information behavior adaptation

Alexander’s Ecological Dominance and Social Competition (EDSC) model currently provides the most comprehensive overview of human traits in the development of a theory of human evolution and sociality (Alexander, 1990; Finn, Geary & Ward, 2005; Irons, 2005). His model provides a basis for explaining the evolution of human socio-cognitive abilities. Our paper examines the extension of Alexander’s model to incorporate the human trait of information behavior in synergy with ecological dominance and social competition as a human socio-cognitive competence. This paper discusses the various interdisciplinary perspectives exploring how evolution has shaped information behavior and why information behavior is emerging as an important human socio-cognitive competence. This paper outlines these issues, including the extension of Spink and Currier’s (2006a,b) evolution of information behavior model towards a more integrated understanding of how information behaviors have evolved (Spink & Cole, 2006).

Social enterprises and the performance advantages of a Vincentian marketing orientation

This study focuses on the managerial issue of should social enterprises (SEs) become more marketing oriented. It adapts the Kohli et al. (J Mark Res 30:467–477,1993) MARKOR marketing orientation scale to measure the adoption of marketing by SEs. The items capture Vincentian-based values to leverage business in service to the poor as a measure of a Vincentian marketing orientation (VMO). A VMO is an organisational wide value-driven philosophy of management that focuses a SE on meeting its objectives by adopting a more marketing orientated approach to serve the needy and poor in a just and sustainable manner. SEs that exhibit a VMO seek to understand and respond to both the needs of their beneficiaries and stakeholders. They are constantly generating,disseminating, and responding to environmental, beneficiary, and stakeholder information and develop their business propositions to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs of the poor, while guided by a philosophy of leveraging business for social good. This study of SEs in Australia found that a VMO is strongly and positively correlated with social, economic, and environmental performance. These findings suggest that SEs may benefit by leveraging marketing capabilities to better serve their beneificiaries and stakeholders.

The evolution of complexity in social organization-A model using dominance-subordinate behavior in two social wasp species

Dominance and subordinate behaviors are important ingredients in the social organizations of group living animals. Behavioral observations on the two eusocial species Ropalidia marginata and Ropalidia cyathiformis suggest varying complexities in their social systems. The queen of R. cyathiformis is an aggressive individual who usually holds the top position in the dominance hierarchy although she does not necessarily show the maximum number of acts of dominance, while the R. marginata queen rarely shows aggression and usually does not hold the top position in the dominance hierarchy of her colony. In R. marginata, more workers are involved in dominance-subordinate interactions as compared to R. cyathiformis. These differences are reflected in the distribution of dominance-subordinate interactions among the hierarchically ranked individuals in both the species. The percentage of dominance interactions decreases gradually with hierarchical ranks in R. marginata while in R. cyathiformis it first increases and then decreases. We use an agent-based model to investigate the underlying mechanism that could give rise to the observed patterns for both the species. The model assumes, besides some non-interacting individuals, the interaction probabilities of the agents depend on their pre-differentiated winning abilities. Our simulations show that if the queen takes up a strategy of being involved in a moderate number of dominance interactions, one could get the pattern similar to R. cyathiformis, while taking up the strategy of very low interactions by the queen could lead to the pattern of R. marginata. We infer that both the species follow a common interaction pattern, while the differences in their social organization are due to the slight changes in queen as well as worker strategies. These changes in strategies are expected to accompany the evolution of more complex societies from simpler ones.

Social insect colony as a biological regulatory system: modelling information flow in dominance networks

Social insects provide an excellent platform to investigate flow of information in regulatory systems since their successful social organization is essentially achieved by effective information transfer through complex connectivity patterns among the colony members. Network representation of such behavioural interactions offers a powerful tool for structural as well as dynamical analysis of the underlying regulatory systems. In this paper, we focus on the dominance interaction networks in the tropical social wasp Ropalidia marginata-a species where behavioural observations indicate that such interactions are principally responsible for the transfer of information between individuals about their colony needs, resulting in a regulation of their own activities. Our research reveals that the dominance networks of R. marginata are structurally similar to a class of naturally evolved information processing networks, a fact confirmed also by the predominance of a specific substructure-the `feed-forward loop'-a key functional component in many other information transfer networks. The dynamical analysis through Boolean modelling confirms that the networks are sufficiently stable under small fluctuations and yet capable of more efficient information transfer compared to their randomized counterparts. Our results suggest the involvement of a common structural design principle in different biological regulatory systems and a possible similarity with respect to the effect of selection on the organization levels of such systems. The findings are also consistent with the hypothesis that dominance behaviour has been shaped by natural selection to co-opt the information transfer process in such social insect species, in addition to its primal function of mediation of reproductive competition in the colony.

Going above and beyond: how sustainability culture and entrepreneurial orientation drive social sustainability supply chain practice adoption

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine what drives the adoption of different social sustainability supply chain practices. Research has shown that certain factors drive the adoption of environmental sustainability practices but few focus on social supply chain practices, delineate which practices are adopted or what drives their adoption.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors examine the facilitative role of sustainability culture to explain the adoption of social sustainability supply chain practices: basic practices, consisting of monitoring and management systems and advanced practices, which are new product and process development and strategic redefinition. The authors then explore the role played by a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation in shaping and reinforcing the adoption of social sustainability supply chain practices. A survey of 156 supply chain managers in multiple industries in Ireland was conducted to test the relationship between the variables.

Findings
– The findings show that sustainability culture is positively related to all the practices, and entrepreneurial orientation impacts and moderates social sustainability culture in advanced social sustainability supply chain adoption.

Research limitations/implications
– As with any survey, this is a single point in time with a single respondent. Implications for managers include finding the right culture in the organisation to implement social sustainability supply chain management practices that go beyond monitoring to behavioural changes in the supply chain with implications beyond the dyad of buyer and supplier to lower tier suppliers and the community surrounding the supply chain.

Practical implications
– The implications for managers include developing and fostering cultural attributes in the organisation to implement social sustainability supply chain management practices that go beyond monitoring suppliers to behavioural changes in the supply chain with implications beyond the dyad of buyer and supplier to lower tier suppliers and the community surrounding the supply chain.

Originality/value
– This is the first time, to the authors’ knowledge, that cultural and entrepreneurial variables have been tested for social sustainability supply chain practices, giving them new insights into how and why social sustainability supply chain practices are adopted.

Establishing a recovery orientation in first line mental health teams in Québec : perspectives from social workers and managers

Le Plan d’action en santé mentale institué en 2005 marque le début d’une période de changements profonds qui auront un impact significatif sur les équipes de première ligne qui assurent la plupart des services au Québec. Le changement se manifestera sur deux fronts distincts. En premier lieu, le passage de services historiquement ancrés dans un modèle biomédical vers des services centrés sur le rétablissement. En second lieu, l’adoption de processus administratifs s’inscrivant dans une philosophie de gestion axée sur les résultats qui ont pour objectif de mesurer et d’assurer l’efficacité des services. L'objectif de cette étude est d’explorer le statu du développement des pratiques axées sur le rétablissement au niveau des travailleurs sociaux de première ligne dans le contexte administratif mentionné ci-haut. Le travail de recherche qualitatif et exploratoire est construit sur l’analyse de 11 interviews semi structurés avec des travailleurs sociaux et des gestionnaires dans des équipes de première ligne en santé mentale. Les entretiens m’ont non seulement permis d’identifier et d’examiner des actions concrètes s’inscrivant dans l’effort d’implantation du Plan d’action mais aussi de sonder et d’explorer la signification qui est donnée au rétablissement par les travailleurs sociaux de première ligne. Les résultats indiquent que certains facteurs relatifs à l'organisation du travail tels que la flexibilité, l'autonomie, la réflexivité et l’interdisciplinarité peuvent favoriser une pratique orientée vers le rétablissement. Aussi, les résultats démontrent que le modèle du rétablissement et la profession du travail social partagent des valeurs fondamentales mais que la signification et l'expression du rétablissement ont été profondément influencés par les modèles organisationnels et obligations administratives en vigueur. Il appert que les travailleurs sociaux sont confrontés, dans leur pratique, à des contraintes qui dépassent leur mandat professionnel et, à certains égards, leur savoir-faire. En somme, les résultats obtenus indiquent que le passage avec succès vers la pratique de services basés sur le rétablissement est compromis par les exigences d’un modèle de gestion axé sur les résultats.

Global and dominance with concentric hierarchical stimuli and orientation classification task. 'Dominancia global y local con est??mulos conc??ntricos y tareas de clasificaci??n de la orientaci??n'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Consideration of corporate social orientation in managing sport organisations' internal stakeholders

Increasing pressure from the public has raised the expectations on corporations to be better citizens of their communities and society as a whole (Bennet 2002; Carroll 1999; Epstein 1989; Van Marrewijk 2003; Wood 1991). As a result, corporations have engaged in corporate social responsibility efforts with most of the subsequent research focused on its impact on consumer response (e.g., attitudes, behaviours, etc.) (Bhattacharya & Sen 2001, 2004; Porter & Kramer 2002). Similarly, research interest on corporate social responsibility in the sport industry has risen, yet no research studies have explored the influence and perceptions about corporate social responsibility of important internal constituents (employees and volunteers) of sport organisations. Particular interest would be in uncovering what employees and volunteers specifically believe are important among CSR elements (ethical, discretionary, legal, economic) and what impact a sense of 'shared CSR values' with the respective sport organisation would have on employee and volunteer response. Will understanding how shared social values influence organisational commitment provide insight on recruitment, retention and/or development strategies of employees and volunteers? Further, assessing any difference in sensemaking between these two groups would be of additional value to this line of enquiry, as the perceptions of the organisation are understood as "tantamount to reality, since organisations are social constructions made up of and acting in accordance with shared perceptions," (Brickson 2007, p. 865) particularly those of employees and volunteers of sport organisations. With increasing academic and industry interest of corporate social responsibility in sport and to address the obvious gap on CSR and employees and volunteers in the literature, the present study will explore how CSR impacts internal constituents (employees and volunteers) of sport organisations. Specifically, the main purpose of the present study is to assess the level of perceived shared values as they related to CSR (measured as corporate social orientation) between employees- organisation and volunteers- organisation. Further, the influence of the level of perceived shared corporate social orientation (CSO) on organisational identification will be evaluated in the context of a proposed model, which includes the relationship of perceived shared corporate social orientation>organisational identification> attitudinal and behavioural outcomes (i.e., commitment, satisfaction, and organisational behaviour). Using a sample of employees and volunteers of a sport organisation, the respondents will be asked to complete an online survey composed of demographic items, the corporate social orientation scale, and items that measure organisational identification, value commitment, job/ volunteer satisfaction, and organisational citizenship behaviours. Discussion of how other stakeholder (e.g., sponsors, consumers, etc.) perceptions on CSR potentially impacts the model and outcomes (e.g., corporate reputation, consumer behaviour) will be addressed. Analyses and results will support discussion and conclusions made to provide evidence for practitioner and researcher implications.

Senior marketers’ insights into the challenges of social media implementation in large organisations: assessing generic and electronic orientation models as potential solutions

The unique characteristics of social media (SM) have made it difficult to implement this tool within many large organisations. This paper seeks to identify the implementation challenges and evaluate alternative organisational orientations that may provide solutions. We aimed to reconcile theory with current practice by integrating the extant literature with data from three focus groups involving 27 senior marketing executives. The managerial discussions identified additional challenges to those previously discussed in the literature, which appear to result from SM’s unique characteristics. These include: interactivity, the integration of communication into distribution channels, collaborative media and information collection. Using both broad orientation models (market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation) and a specific digital orientation (e-marketing orientation), guidelines and research propositions for effective implementation are put forward.

E-marketing orientation and social media implementation in B2B marketing

AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of an organisational orientation,namely the electronic marketing orientation (EMO) to address implementation issues inbusiness-to-business (B2B) social media implementation. Previous research has demonstrateddifferences between B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on existing B2B marketing, social media andorganisational orientation literature, both academic and practitioner. This facilitates the developmentof a conceptual model and research proposition as a basis of further research into addressingcontemporary barriers to B2B social media implementation.Findings – The paper contends that each of the four components of the EMO addresses differentimplementation issues faced in implementing social media and, more specifically, the unique issuesfaced by B2B marketers.Research limitations/implications – The paper is conceptual in nature; however, it providesdirections for future empirical research.Practical implications – The differences in promotional and sales channels and messages requiredin B2B context are addressed in the research propositions. The paper highlights implementationchallenges and how a particular organisational orientation can facilitate the decision-making in dealingwith them.Originality/value – The paper provides a unique theoretical contribution by introducing the EMOconceptual model in a specific context of B2B social media marketing.

The correlation between subordinate fish eye colour and received attacks: a negative social feedback mechanism for the reduction of aggression during the formation of dominance hierarchies

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)