Exploring the impact of perceived LMX variability within work teams

According to Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, leaders develop different quaUt}' reladonships with the employees they supervise. To date, Utde research has invesdgated the impact of such differendadon by the leader on workplace outcomes. The current research proposes a novel way to capture the extent of LMX variabiUt}' within a single work team, and subsequently investigates the impact of perceived LMX variability on workplace outcomes. Across multiple employed samples, participants reported poorer team relations (as indicated by low team cohesion and high conflict) when they perceived LMX variability to be high. Perceptions of poor team relations further impacted negatively upon individual affect variables. The findings suggest that leaders may need to exercise caution when developing different quality relationships amongst individuals within the same work team.

Sense of place: A tool to assist the meaningful engagement of communities in protected area management

This study used ‘sense of place’ as a research tool to help understand the relationship between a community and their local protected area, Brisbane Forest Park. To establish an indication of the community’s relative degree of sense of place, we considered and measured both the strength (intensity) and orientation (focus) of sense of place. We developed a new method to measure sense of place that considers and measures the elements constituting sense of place, independent of one another, utilising qualitative data collected in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Exploring both the strength and orientation of an individual's sense of place provides a way of exploring the desired nature of community involvement in the management of the Park. It was found that the stronger an individuals’ sense of place, the greater their place dependence and commitment, and the greater their desire to be involved in management. Analysing the strength and orientation of sense of place illustrated that there is a high degree of diversity in how individuals perceive and feel about area, and their desire to be involved in management. The type of information obtained in this study is important and useful to the management agencies if they are to successfully engage the community in meaningful ways.

'Girls who do Boys like they’re girls'? Exploring the role of gender in the junior management of contemporary service work

This article attempts to explain the clustering of women managers at junior managerial grades in the service sector by focusing on the structuring and organization of work in a call centre. The article is based on an ethnography of an organization and seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate in gender research by exploring and documenting the requirement for the enactment of masculinities at work for successful managers. Central to our account is the role of team leader which, as a junior management position, occupies a key role in understanding and accounting for the gendered hierarchical terrain of contemporary service-based organizations. In exploring the role of team leader, a position that tends overwhelmingly to be held by female staff, we draw attention to the perception of the gendered nature of the role by subordinate members of the organization, the team-leaders themselves and more senior managers. The position is also brought into sharp relief in comparison with the subordinate role of the ‘problem manager’, a position overwhelmingly held by men.

Strategic positioning in voluntary and non-profit organizations in the UK : exploring the experiences of British charitable organizations:Exploring the experiences of British Charitable Organizations

This thesis explores the strategic positioning [SP] activities of charitable organizations [COs] within the wider sector of voluntary and non-profit organizations [VNPOs] in the UK. Despite the growing interest in SP for British COs in an increasingly competitive operating environment and changing policy context, there is lack of research in mainstream marketing/strategic management studies on this topic for charities, whilst the specialist literature on VNPOs has neglected the study of SP. The thesis begins with an extended literature review of the concept of positioning in both commercial [for-profit] and charitable organizations. It concludes that the majority of theoretical underpinnings of SP that are prescribed for COs have been derived from the commercial strategy/marketing literature. There is currently a lack of theoretical and conceptual models that can accommodate the particular context of COs and guide strategic positioning practice in them. The research contained in this thesis is intended to fill some of these research gaps. It combines an exploratory postal survey and four cross-sectional case studies to describe the SP activities of a sample of general welfare and social care charities and identifies the key factors that influence their choice of positioning strategies [PSs]. It concludes that charitable organizations have begun to undertake SP to differentiate their organizations from other charities that provide similar services. Their PSs have both generic features, and other characteristics that are unique to them. A combination of external environmental and organizational factors influences their choice of PSs. A theoretical model, which depicts these factors, is developed in this research. It highlights the role of governmental influence, other external environmental forces, the charity’s mission, organizational resources, and influential stakeholders in shaping the charity’s PS. This study concludes by considering the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings on the study of charitable and non-profit organizations.

How capabilities in operations can influence green production:exploring the issues

This research presents case material of companies within the UK that are attempting to be “Green” in their operations processes. We assess their aspirations by plotting capabilities through their supply networks under five key headings: Strategy; Production planning and procurement; In-house production; Logistics; and Human resource management within operations. We build upon the work of Azzone and Noci, 1998 and Azzone et al., 1997 and we present insights into companies whose commitment to Green Production ranges from “the company tries to delay the adoption of green programs” through to the company adopts a “radical approach to environmental issues.” In doing so we see how operations capabilities in a range of parameters can play a central and pivotal role in achieving some of the aspirations of Green Production within companies.

Critical practice and the public pedagogy of environmental and conservation media

Natural History filmmaking has a long history but the generic boundaries between it and environmental and conservation filmmaking are blurred. Nature, environment and animal imagery has been a mainstay of television, campaigning organisations and conservation bodies from Greenpeace to the Sierra Club, with vibrant images being used effectively on posters, leaflets and postcards, and in coffee table books, media releases, short films and viral emails to educate and inform the general public. However, critics suggest that wildlife film and photography frequently convey a false image of the state of the world’s flora and fauna. The environmental educator David Orr once remarked that all education is environmental education, and it is possible to see all image-based communication in the same way. The Media, Animal Conservation and Environmental Education has contributions from filmmakers, photographers, researchers and academics from across the globe. It explores the various ways in which film, television and video are, and can be, used by conservationists and educators to encourage both a greater awareness of environmental and conservation issues, and practical action designed to help endangered species. This book is based on a special issue of the journal Environmental Education Research.

Proactive environmental systems:the next generation of environmental monitoring

In this article we envision factors and trends that shape the next generation of environmental monitoring systems. One key factor in this respect is the combined effect of end-user needs and the general development of IT services and their availability. Currently, an environmental (monitoring) system is assumed to be reactive. It delivers measurement data and computational results only if the user explicitly asks for it either by query or subscription. There is a temptation to automate this by simply pushing data to end-users. This, however, leads easily to an "advertisement strategy", where data is pushed to end-users regardless of users' needs. Under this strategy, the mere amount of received data obfuscates the individual messages; any "automatic" service, regardless of its fitness, overruns a system that requires the user's initiative. The foreseeable problem is that, unless there is no overall management, each new environmental service is going to compete for end-users' attention and, thus, inadvertently hinder the use of existing services. As the main contribution we investigate the nature of proactive environmental systems, and how they should be designed to avoid the aforementioned problem. We also discuss how semantics, participatory sensing, uncertainty management, and situational awareness link to proactive environmental systems. We illustrate our proposals with some real-life examples.

Exploring the experiences of nurses who care for children who have Acute Life Threatening Events (ALTE) in hospital

This thesis presents a program of work designed to explore and describe what the experience of caring for a child who has an Acute Life Threatening Event (ALTE) is like for the nurses. An ALTE may include a cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest or unplanned admission for a ward to the Paediatric Intensive Care unit. Using the MRC framework for the development of complex interventions, this information was then coupled with theory to develop the PREPARE and SUPPORT interventions. Given the wide-ranging and exploratory nature of this research, a pragmatic, mixed design approach was used to address the aims and objectives of the thesis. The mixed design approach included: a systematic literature review; international survey of practice; interviews with nurses and doctors using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis; development, refinement and evaluation of interventions during a feasibility study. Two studies were identified through the systematic review which aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of debriefing. The studies did not provide evidence to support the use of these interventions within healthcare. The international survey of practice demonstrated hospitals were using interventions to both prepare and support nurses for these events. The preparatory interventions were clinically focused and the majority of the supportive interventions included a debrief. The interventions were not being evaluated for effectiveness. The interviews conducted with nurses and doctors provided insight into what that experience was like for the participants. Using the MRC framework, this evidence was coupled with theory to develop the PREPARE and SUPPORT interventions. A multidisciplinary working party used an iterative process to refine and evaluate the interventions and study procedures were explored through a feasibility study. The pragmatic, mixed design approach demonstrated how the empirical evidence was coupled with theory and clinical expertise to develop interventions for use within the healthcare environment.

Exploring the optimum step size for defocus curves

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of reducing the number of visual acuity measurements made in a defocus curve on the quality of data quantified. Setting: Midland Eye, Solihull, United Kingdom. Design: Evaluation of a technique. Methods: Defocus curves were constructed by measuring visual acuity on a distance logMAR letter chart, randomizing the test letters between lens presentations. The lens powers evaluated ranged between +1.50 diopters (D) and -5.00 D in 0.50 D steps, which were also presented in a randomized order. Defocus curves were measured binocularly with the Tecnis diffractive, Rezoom refractive, Lentis rotationally asymmetric segmented (+3.00 D addition [add]), and Finevision trifocal multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) implanted bilaterally, and also for the diffractive IOL and refractive or rotationally asymmetric segmented (+3.00 D and +1.50 D adds) multifocal IOLs implanted contralaterally. Relative and absolute range of clear-focus metrics and area metrics were calculated for curves fitted using 0.50 D, 1.00 D, and 1.50 D steps and a near add-specific profile (ie, distance, half the near add, and the full near-add powers). Results: A significant difference in simulated results was found in at least 1 of the relative or absolute range of clear-focus or area metrics for each of the multifocal designs examined when the defocus-curve step size was increased (P<.05). Conclusion: Faster methods of capturing defocus curves from multifocal IOL designs appear to distort the metric results and are therefore not valid. Financial Disclosure: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned. © 2013 ASCRS and ESCRS.

Exploring the biological basis for Salmonella persistence in food manufacturing environments

The persistence of Salmonella spp. in low moisture foods is a challenge for the food industry as despite control strategies already in place, notable outbreaks still occur. The aim of this study was to characterise isolates of Salmonella, known to be persistent in the food manufacturing environment, by comparing their microbiological characteristics with a panel of matched clinical and veterinary isolates. The gross morphology of the challenge panel was phenotypically characterised in terms of cellular size, shape and motility. In all the parameters measured, the factory isolates were indistinguishable from the human, clinical and veterinary strains. Further detailed metabolic profiling was undertaken using the biolog Microbial ID system. Multivariate analysis of the metabolic microarray revealed differences in metabolism of the factory isolate of S.Montevideo, based on its upregulated ability to utilise glucose and the sugar alcohol groups. The remainder of the serotype-matched isolates were metabolically indistinguishable. Temperature and humidity are known to influence bacterial survival and through environmental monitoring experimental parameters were defined. The results revealed Salmonella survival on stainless steel was affected by environmental temperatures that may be experienced in a food processing environment; with higher survival rates (D25=35.4) at temperatures at 25°C and lower humidity levels of 15% RH, however a rapid decline in cell count (D10=3.4) with lower temperatures of 10°C and higher humidity of 70% RH. Several resident factories strains survived in higher numbers on stainless steel (D25=29.69) compared to serotype matched clinical and veterinary isolates (D25=22.98). Factory isolates of Salmonella did not show an enhanced growth rate in comparison to serotype matched solates grown in Luria broth, Nutrient broth and M9 minimal media indicating that as an independent factor, growth was unlikely to be a major factor driving Salmonella persistence. Using a live / dead stain coupled with fluorescence microscopy revealed that when no longer culturable, isolates of S.Schwarzengrund entered into a viable nonculturable state. The biofilm forming capacity of the panel was characterised and revealed that all were able to form biofilms. None of the factory isolates showed an enhanced capability to form biofilms in comparison to serotype-matched isolates. In disinfection studies, planktonic cells were more susceptible to disinfectants than cells in biofilm and all the disinfectants tested were successful in reducing bacterial load. Contact time was one of the most important factors for reducing bacterial populations in a biofilm. The genomes of eight strains were sequenced. At the nucleotide and amino acid level the food factory isolates were similar to those of isolates from other environments; no major genomic rearrangements were observed, supporting the conclusions of the phenotypic and metabolic analysis. In conclusion, having investigated a variety of morphological, biochemical and genomic factors, it is unlikely that the persistence of Salmonella in the food manufacturing environment is attributable to a single phenotypic, metabolic or genomic factor. Whilst a combination of microbiological factors may be involved it is also possible that strain persistence in the factory environment is a consequence of failure to apply established hygiene management principles.

The use of hyphenated spectrometric techniques for the environmental forensic assessment of non-traditional pollutants and degradates in the greater Florida Everglades

A comprehensive investigation of sensitive ecosystems in South Florida with the main goal of determining the identity, spatial distribution, and sources of both organic biocides and trace elements in different environmental compartments is reported. This study presents the development and validation of a fractionation and isolation method of twelve polar acidic herbicides commonly applied in the vicinity of the study areas, including e.g. 2,4-D, MCPA, dichlorprop, mecroprop, picloram in surface water. Solid phase extraction (SPE) was used to isolate the analytes from abiotic matrices containing large amounts of dissolved organic material. Atmospheric-pressure ionization (API) with electrospray ionization in negative mode (ESP-) in a Quadrupole Ion Trap mass spectrometer was used to perform the characterization of the herbicides of interest. ^ The application of Laser Ablation-ICP-MS methodology in the analysis of soils and sediments is reported in this study. The analytical performance of the method was evaluated on certified standards and real soil and sediment samples. Residential soils were analyzed to evaluate feasibility of using the powerful technique as a routine and rapid method to monitor potential contaminated sites. Forty eight sediments were also collected from semi pristine areas in South Florida to conduct screening of baseline levels of bioavailable elements in support of risk evaluation. The LA-ICP-MS data were used to perform a statistical evaluation of the elemental composition as a tool for environmental forensics. ^ A LA-ICP-MS protocol was also developed and optimized for the elemental analysis of a wide range of elements in polymeric filters containing atmospheric dust. A quantitative strategy based on internal and external standards allowed for a rapid determination of airborne trace elements in filters containing both contemporary African dust and local dust emissions. These distributions were used to qualitative and quantitative assess differences of composition and to establish provenance and fluxes to protected regional ecosystems such as coral reefs and national parks. ^

Developing a leadership identity: A case study exploring a select group of Hispanic women at a Hispanic serving institution

Leadership is a socially constructed concept shaped by the context, values and experiences of society (Klenke, 1996); the historical context of gender and ethnicity in society affects views about leadership and who merits a leadership role. Therefore, developing an understanding of Hispanic women students’ leadership identity development is critical in broadening how we define leadership and develop leadership education. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and describe the leadership identity development of a select group of women leaders at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in the southeast. A psychosocial approach to the study was utilized. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with 11 self-identified Hispanic women students of sophomore, junior or senior standing with varying degrees of involvement in leadership activities at Florida International University. Participants were asked questions related to four topics; (a) leadership, (b) gender, (c) ethnic identity, and (d) influences that contributed to their understanding of self as leader. Five topics emerged from the data presented by the participants’: (a) encouraging relationships, (b) meaningful experiences, (c) self development, (d) the role of gender, and (e) impact of ethnicity. These themes contributed to the leadership identity development of the participants. Findings indicate that leadership identity development for Hispanic women college students at this HSI is complex. The concept of leadership identity development presented in the literature was challenged as findings indicate that the participants’ experiences living and attending a school in a majority-minority city influenced their development of a leadership identity. The data indicate that leadership is not gender or ethnicity neutral as differences exist in expectations of men and women in leadership roles. Gender expectations posed particular challenges for these women student leaders. The prescriptive nature of stage-based models was problematic as findings indicated leadership identity development a complicated and continuing process influenced strongly by relationships and experiences. This study enhanced knowledge of the ways that Hispanic women students become leaders and the influences that shape their leadership experiences which can assist higher education professionals in developing leadership programs and courses that address gender, multiculturalism and awareness of self as leader.