826 resultados para Organizational potential for change
Resumo:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the erosive potential of orange juice modified with food-approved additives: 0.4 g/l of calcium (Ca) from calcium lactate pentahydrate, 0.2 g/l of linear sodium polyphosphate (LPP) or their combination (Ca+LPP) were added to a commercially available orange juice (negative control, C-). A commercially available calcium-modified orange juice (1.6 g/l of calcium) was the positive control (C+). These juices were tested using a short-term erosion in situ model, consisting of a five-phase, single-blind crossover clinical trial involving 10 subjects. In each phase, subjects inserted custom-made palatal appliances containing 8 bovine enamel specimens in the mouth and performed erosive challenges for a total of 0 (control), 10, 20, and 30 min. Two specimens were randomly removed from the appliances after each challenge period. Enamel surface microhardness was measured before and after the clinical phase and the percentage of surface microhardness change (%SMC) was determined. Before the procedures, in each phase, the subjects performed a taste test, where the juice assigned to that phase was blindly compared to C-. Overall, C+ showed the lowest %SMC, being the least erosive solution (p < 0.05), followed by Ca+LPP and Ca, which did not differ from each other (p > 0.05). LPP and C- were the most erosive solutions (p <0.05). Taste differences were higher for C+ (5/10 subjects) and Ca (4/10 subjects), but detectable in all groups, including C- (2/10 subjects). Calcium reduced the erosive potential of the orange juice, while no protection was observed for LPP. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel
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Liposomes have been employed as potential drug carriers. However, after their in vivo administration, they can be destabilized by proteins of complement system, contributing to the clearance of vesicles from blood circulation. Antioxidant flavonoids such as quercetin have been reported to be beneficial to human health, but their low water solubility and bioavailability limit their enteric administration. Therefore, the development of appropriate flavonoid-carriers could be of great importance to drug therapy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the activation of human complement system proteins by liposomes composed of soya phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and cholesterol (CHOL) or cholesteryl ethyl ether (CHOL-OET) loaded with quercetin or not. The consumption of complement, via classical (CP) and alternative (AP) pathways, by different vesicles was evaluated using a hemolytic assay and quantitative determination of iC3b and natural antibodies deposited on empty liposomal surfaces by ELISA. The main results showed that empty liposomes composed of large amounts of CHOL consumed more complement components than the others for both CP and AP. Furthermore, replacement of CHOL with CHOL-OET reduced complement consumption via both CP and AP. Incorporation of quercetin did not change CP and AP consumption. Deposition of iC3b, IgG and IgM in vesicles composed of SPC: CHOL-OET at a molar ratio of 1.5:1 was lower compared to the others. Taken together, these observations suggest that liposomes composed of SPC: CHOL-OET at a molar ratio of 1.5:1 are the most appropriate among the vesicles studied herein to be used as a drug carrier system in further investigations.
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A 19-year-old female with type 1 diabetes for four years, and a 73-year-old female with type 2 diabetes for twenty years developed sudden-onset nephrotic syndrome. Examination by light microscopy, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy (in one case) identified minimal change disease (MCD) in both cases. There was a potential causative drug (meloxicam) for the 73-year-old patient. Both patients were treated with prednisone and responded with complete remission. The patient with type 1 diabetes showed complete remission without relapse, and the patient with type 2 diabetes had two relapses; complete remission was sustained after associated treatment with cyclophosphamide and prednisone. Both patients had two years of follow-up evaluation after remission. We discuss the outcomes of both patients and emphasize the role of kidney biopsy in diabetic patients with an atypical proteinuric clinical course, because patients with MCD clearly respond to corticotherapy alone or in conjunction with other immunosuppressive agents. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2012;56(5):331-5
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This study analyzes an accident in which two maintenance workers suffered severe burns while replacing a circuit breaker panel in a steel mill, following model of analysis and prevention of accidents (MAPA) developed with the objective of enlarging the perimeter of interventions and contributing to deconstruction of blame attribution practices. The study was based on materials produced by a health service team in an in-depth analysis of the accident. The analysis shows that decisions related to system modernization were taken without considering their implications in maintenance scheduling and creating conflicts of priorities and of interests between production and safety; and also reveals that the lack of a systemic perspective in safety management was its principal failure. To explain the accident as merely non-fulfillment of idealized formal safety rules feeds practices of blame attribution supported by alibi norms and inhibits possible prevention. In contrast, accident analyses undertaken in worker health surveillance services show potential to reveal origins of these events incubated in the history of the system ignored in practices guided by the traditional paradigm.
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The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened tropical biomes, with much of the standing forest in small (less than 50 ha), disturbed and isolated patches. The pattern of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) which has resulted in this critical scenario has not yet been fully investigated. Here, we describe the LULCC in three Atlantic Forest fragmented landscapes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) between 1960-1980s and 1980-2000s. The three studied landscapes differ in the current proportion of forest cover, having 10%, 30% and 50% respectively. Between the 1960s and 1980s. forest cover of two landscapes was reduced while the forest cover in the third landscape increased slightly. The opposite trend was observed between the 1980s and 2000s: forest regeneration was greater than deforestation at the landscapes with 10% and 50% of forest cover and, as a consequence, forest cover increased. By contrast, the percentage of forest cover at the landscape with 30% of forest cover was drastically reduced between the 1980s and 2000s. LULCC deviated from a random trajectory, were not constant through time in two study landscapes and were not constant across space in a given time period. This landscape dynamism in single locations over small temporal scales is a key factor to be considered in models of LULCC to accurately simulate future changes for the Atlantic Forest. In general, forest patches became more isolated when deforestation was greater than forest regeneration and became more connected when forest regeneration was greater than deforestation. As a result of the dynamic experienced by the study landscapes, individual forest patches currently consist of a mosaic of different forest age classes which is likely to impact bio-diversity. Furthermore, landscape dynamics suggests the beginning of a forest transition in some Atlantic Forest regions, what could be of great importance for biodiversity conservation due to the potential effects of young secondary forests in reducing forest isolation and maintaining a significant amount of the original biodiversity. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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The purpose of present review is to describe the effect of leucine supplementation on skeletal muscle proteolysis suppression in both in vivo and in vitro studies. Most studies, using in vitro methodology, incubated skeletal muscles with leucine with different doses and the results suggests that there is a dose-dependent effect. The same responses can be observed in in vivo studies. Importantly, the leucine effects on skeletal muscle protein synthesis are not always connected to the inhibition of skeletal muscle proteolysis. As a matter of fact, high doses of leucine incubation can promote suppression of muscle proteolysis without additional effects on protein synthesis, and low leucine doses improve skeletal muscle protein ynthesis but have no effect on skeletal muscle proteolysis. These research findings may have an important clinical relevancy, because muscle loss in atrophic states would be reversed by specific leucine supplementation doses. Additionally, it has been clearly demonstrated that leucine administration suppresses skeletal muscle proteolysis in various catabolic states. Thus, if protein metabolism changes during different atrophic conditions, it is not surprising that the leucine dose-effect relationship must also change, according to atrophy or pathological state and catabolism magnitude. In conclusion, leucine has a potential role on attenuate skeletal muscle proteolysis. Future studies will help to sharpen the leucine efficacy on skeletal muscle protein degradation during several atrophic states.
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The aim of this study was to identify future distribution areas and propose actions to preserve passion fruit pollination service under a scenario of future climate change. We used four species of Xylocopa bees that are important for passion fruit pollination in Brazilian Tropical Savannas. We also used the known forage plant species (33 species) that are associated with this same area, since passion fruit flowers provide only nectar for bees and only during their blossoming period. We used species distribution modeling to predict the potential areas of occurrence for each bee and plant based on the current day distribution and a future climate scenario (moderate projections of climate change to 2050). We used a geographic information system to classify the models and to analyze the future areas for both groups of species. The current day distribution map showed that Xylocopa and plant species occurred primarily in the southern and central-eastern areas of the Brazilian Tropical Savannas. In the north, Xylocopa species only occurred in a small area between the states of Maranhão and Piauí while forage plant species were only observed in the northern part of the Tocantins State. However, both future scenarios (bees and plants) showed a shift in distribution, with occurrence predominantly detected in the northern areas of Brazilian Tropical Savannas. Possible conservation areas and the use of appropriate agricultural practices were suggested to ensure the maintenance of the bee/plant focal species.
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Information about orthodontic movement of teeth with hypercementosis is scarce. As cementum deposition continues to occur, cementum is expected to change the shape of the root and apex over time, but this has not yet been demonstrated. Nor has it ever been established whether it increases or decreases the prevalence of root resorption during orthodontic treatment. The unique biological function of the interconnected network of cementocytes may play a role in orthodontic movement and its associated root resorptions, but no research has ever been conducted on the topic. Unlike cementum thickness and hypercementosis, root and apex shape has not yet been related to patient age. A study of the precise difference between increased cementum thickness and hypercementosis is warranted. Hypercementosis refers to excessive cementum formation above and beyond the extent necessary to fulfill its normal functions, resulting in abnormal thickening with macroscopic changes in the tooth root, which may require the delivery of forces that are different from conventional mechanics in their intensity, direction and distribution. What are the unique features and specificities involved in moving teeth that present with hypercementosis? Bodily movements would be expected to occur, since inclination might prove difficult to achieve, but would the root resorption index be higher or lower?
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Streptococcus mutans is considered the primary etiologic agent of dental caries and contributes significantly to the virulence of dental plaque, especially in the presence of sucrose. To avoid the role of sucrose on the virulence factors of S. mutans, sugar substitutes are commonly consumed because they lead to lower or no production of acids and interfere with biofilm formation. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of sugar substitutes in the cariogenic potential of S. mutans biofilms. Thus, in the presence of sucrose, glucose, sucralose and sorbitol, the biofilm mass was quantified up to 96 h, the pH of the spent culture media was measured, the expression of biofilm-related genes was determined, and demineralization challenge experiments were conduct in enamel fragments. The presence of sugars or sugar substitutes profoundly affected the expression of spaP, gtfB, gtfC, gbpB, ftf, vicR and vicX in either biofilm or planktonic cells. The substitution of sucrose induced a down-regulation of most genes involved in sucrose-dependent colonization in biofilm cells. When the ratio between the expression of biofilm and planktonic cells was considered, most of those genes were down-regulated in biofilm cells in the presence of sugars and up-regulated in the presence of sugar substitutes. However, sucralose but not sorbitol fulfilled the purpose of reducing the cariogenic potential of the diet since it induced the biofilm formation with the lowest biomass, did not change the pH of the medium and led to the lowest lesion depth in the cariogenic challenge
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The purpose of this thesis is to analyse interactions between freshwater flows, terrestrial ecosystems and human well-being. Freshwater management and policy has mainly focused on the liquid water part (surface and ground water run off) of the hydrological cycle including aquatic ecosystems. Although of great significance, this thesis shows that such a focus will not be sufficient for coping with freshwater related social-ecological vulnerability. The thesis illustrates that the terrestrial component of the hydrological cycle, reflected in vapour flows (or evapotranspiration), serves multiple functions in the human life-support system. A broader understanding of the interactions between terrestrial systems and freshwater flows is particularly important in light of present widespread land cover change in terrestrial ecosystems. The water vapour flows from continental ecosystems were quantified at a global scale in Paper I of the thesis. It was estimated that in order to sustain the majority of global terrestrial ecosystem services on which humanity depends, an annual water vapour flow of 63 000 km3/yr is needed, including 6800 km3/yr for crop production. In comparison, the annual human withdrawal of liquid water amounts to roughly 4000 km3/yr. A potential conflict between freshwater for future food production and for terrestrial ecosystem services was identified. Human redistribution of water vapour flows as a consequence of long-term land cover change was addressed at both continental (Australia) (Paper II) and global scales (Paper III). It was estimated that the annual vapour flow had decreased by 10% in Australia during the last 200 years. This is due to a decrease in woody vegetation for agricultural production. The reduction in vapour flows has caused severe problems with salinity of soils and rivers. The human-induced alteration of vapour flows was estimated at more than 15 times the volume of human-induced change in liquid water (Paper II).
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This volume is a collection of the work done in a three years-lasting PhD, focused in the analysis of Central and Southern Adriatic marine sediments, deriving from the collection of a borehole and many cores, achieved thanks to the good seismic-stratigraphic knowledge of the study area. The work was made out within European projects EC-EURODELTA (coordinated by Fabio Trincardi, ISMAR-CNR), EC-EUROSTRATAFORM (coordinated by Phil P. E. Weaver, NOC, UK), and PROMESS1 (coordinated by Serge Bernè, IFREMER, France). The analysed sedimentary successions presented highly expanded stratigraphic intervals, particularly for the last 400 kyr, 60 kyr and 6 kyr BP. These three different time-intervals resulted in a tri-partition of the PhD thesis. The study consisted of the analysis of planktic and benthic foraminifers’ assemblages (more than 560 samples analysed), as well as in preparing the material for oxygen and carbon stable isotope analyses, and interpreting and discussing the obtained dataset. The chronologic framework of the last 400 kyr was achieved for borehole PRAD1-2 (within the work-package WP6 of PROMESS1 project), collected in 186.5 m water depth. The proposed chronology derives from a multi-disciplinary approach, consisting of the integration of numerous and independent proxies, some of which analysed by other specialists within the project. The final framework based on: micropaleontology (calcareous nannofossils and foraminifers’ bioevents), climatic cyclicity (foraminifers’ assemblages), geochemistry (oxygen stable isotope, made out on planktic and benthic records), paleomagnetism, radiometric ages (14C AMS), teprhochronology, identification of sapropel-equivalent levels (Se). It’s worth to note the good consistency between the oxygen stable isotope curve obtained for borehole PRAD1-2 and other deeper Mediterranean records. The studied proxies allowed the recognition of all the isotopic intervals from MIS10 to MIS1 in PRAD1-2 record, and the base of the borehole has been ascribed to the early MIS11. Glacial and interglacial intervals identified in the Central Adriatic record have been analysed in detail for the paleo-environmental reconstruction, as well. For instance, glacial stages MIS6, MIS8 and MIS10 present peculiar foraminifers’ assemblages, composed by benthic species typical of polar regions and no longer living in the Central Adriatic nowadays. Moreover, a deepening trend in the paleo-bathymetry during glacial intervals was observed, from MIS10 (inner-shelf environment) to MIS4 (mid-shelf environment).Ten sapropel-equivalent levels have been recognised in PRAD1-2 Central Adriatic record. They showed different planktic foraminifers’ assemblages, which allowed the first distinction of events occurred during warm-climate (Se5, Se7), cold-climate (Se4, Se6 and Se8) and temperate-intermediate-climate (Se1, Se3, Se9, Se’, Se10) conditions, consistently with literature. Cold-climate sapropel equivalents are characterised by the absence of an oligotrophic phase, whereas warm-temeprate-climate sapropel equivalents present both the oligotrophic and the eutrophic phases (except for Se1). Sea floor conditions vary, according to benthic foraminifers’ assemblages, from relatively well oxygenated (Se1, Se3), to dysoxic (Se9, Se’, Se10), to highly dysoxic (Se4, Se6, Se8) to events during which benthic foraminifers are absent (Se5, Se7). These two latter levels are also characterised by the lamination of the sediment, feature never observed in literature in such shallow records. The enhanced stratification of the water column during the events Se8, Se7, Se6, Se5, Se4, and the concurring strong dilution of shallow water, pointed out by the isotope record, lead to the hypothesis of a period of intense precipitation in the Central Adriatic region, possibly due to a northward shift of the African Monsoon. Finally, the expression of Central Adriatic PRAD1-2 Se5 equivalent was compared with the same event, as registered in other Eastern Mediterranean areas. The sequence of substantially the same planktic foraminifers’ bioevents has been consistently recognised, indicating a similar evolution of the water column all over the Eastern Mediterranean; yet, the synchronism of these events cannot be demonstrated. A high resolution analysis of late Holocene (last 6000 years BP) climate change was carried out for the Adriatic area, through the recognition of planktic and benthic foraminifers’ bioevents. In particular, peaks of planktic Globigerinoides sacculifer (four during the last 5500 years BP in the most expanded core) have been interpreted, based on the ecological requirements of this species, as warm-climate, arid intervals, correspondent to periods of relative climatic optimum, such as, for instance, the Medieval Warm Period, the Roman Age, the Late Bronze Age and the Copper Age. Consequently, the minima in the abundance of this biomarker could correspond to relatively cooler and more rainy periods. These conclusions are in good agreement with the isotopic and the pollen data. The Last Occurrence (LO) of G. sacculifer has been dated in this work at an average age of 550 years BP, and it is the best bioevent approximating the base of the Little Ice Age in the Adriatic. Recent literature reports the same bioevent in the Levantine Basin, showing a rather consistent age. Therefore, the LO of G. sacculifer has the potential to be extended to all the Eastern Mediterranean. Within the Little Ice Age, benthic foraminifer V. complanata shows two distinct peaks in the shallower Adriatic cores analysed, collected hundred kilometres apart, inside the mud belt environment. Based on the ecological requirements of this species, these two peaks have been interpreted as the more intense (cold and rainy) oscillations inside the LIA. The chronologic framework of the analysed cores is robust, being based on several range-finding 14C AMS ages, on estimates of the secular variation of the magnetic field, on geochemical estimates of the activity depth of 210Pb short-lived radionuclide (for the core-top ages), and is in good agreement with tephrochronologic, pollen and foraminiferal data. The intra-holocenic climate oscillations find out in the Adriatic have been compared with those pointed out in literature from other records of the Northern Hemisphere, and the chronologic constraint seems quite good. Finally, the sedimentary successions analysed allowed the review and the update of the foraminifers’ ecobiostratigraphy available from literature for the Adriatic region, thanks to the achievement of 16 ecobiozones for the last 60 kyr BP. Some bioevents are restricted to the Central Adriatic (for instance the LO of benthic Hyalinea balthica , approximating the MIS3/MIS2 boundary), others occur all over the Adriatic basin (for instance the LO of planktic Globorotalia inflata during MIS3, individuating Dansgaard-Oeschger cycle 8 (Denekamp)).
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It is not unknown that the evolution of firm theories has been developed along a path paved by an increasing awareness of the organizational structure importance. From the early “neoclassical” conceptualizations that intended the firm as a rational actor whose aim is to produce that amount of output, given the inputs at its disposal and in accordance to technological or environmental constraints, which maximizes the revenue (see Boulding, 1942 for a past mid century state of the art discussion) to the knowledge based theory of the firm (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005), which recognizes in the firm a knnowledge creating entity, with specific organizational capabilities (Teece, 1996; Teece & Pisano, 1998) that allow to sustaine competitive advantages. Tracing back a map of the theory of the firm evolution, taking into account the several perspectives adopted in the history of thought, would take the length of many books. Because of that a more fruitful strategy is circumscribing the focus of the description of the literature evolution to one flow connected to a crucial question about the nature of firm’s behaviour and about the determinants of competitive advantages. In so doing I adopt a perspective that allows me to consider the organizational structure of the firm as an element according to which the different theories can be discriminated. The approach adopted starts by considering the drawbacks of the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. Discussing the most influential theoretical approaches I end up with a close examination of the knowledge based perspective of the firm. Within this perspective the firm is considered as a knowledge creating entity that produce and mange knowledge (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata, 2000; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005). In a knowledge intensive organization, knowledge is clearly embedded for the most part in the human capital of the individuals that compose such an organization. In a knowledge based organization, the management, in order to cope with knowledge intensive productions, ought to develop and accumulate capabilities that shape the organizational forms in a way that relies on “cross-functional processes, extensive delayering and empowerment” (Foss 2005, p.12). This mechanism contributes to determine the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, it also shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves. After having recognized the growing importance of the firm’s organizational structure in the theoretical literature concerning the firm theory, the subsequent point of the analysis is that of providing an overview of the changes that have been occurred at micro level to the firm’s organization of production. The economic actors have to deal with challenges posed by processes of internationalisation and globalization, increased and increasing competitive pressure of less developed countries on low value added production activities, changes in technologies and increased environmental turbulence and volatility. As a consequence, it has been widely recognized that the main organizational models of production that fitted well in the 20th century are now partially inadequate and processes aiming to reorganize production activities have been widespread across several economies in recent years. Recently, the emergence of a “new” form of production organization has been proposed both by scholars, practitioners and institutions: the most prominent characteristic of such a model is its recognition of the importance of employees commitment and involvement. As a consequence it is characterized by a strong accent on the human resource management and on those practices that aim to widen the autonomy and responsibility of the workers as well as increasing their commitment to the organization (Osterman, 1994; 2000; Lynch, 2007). This “model” of production organization is by many defined as High Performance Work System (HPWS). Despite the increasing diffusion of workplace practices that may be inscribed within the concept of HPWS in western countries’ companies, it is an hazard, to some extent, to speak about the emergence of a “new organizational paradigm”. The discussion about organizational changes and the diffusion of HPWP the focus cannot abstract from a discussion about the industrial relations systems, with a particular accent on the employment relationships, because of their relevance, in the same way as production organization, in determining two major outcomes of the firm: innovation and economic performances. The argument is treated starting from the issue of the Social Dialogue at macro level, both in an European perspective and Italian perspective. The model of interaction between the social parties has repercussions, at micro level, on the employment relationships, that is to say on the relations between union delegates and management or workers and management. Finding economic and social policies capable of sustaining growth and employment within a knowledge based scenario is likely to constitute the major challenge for the next generation of social pacts, which are the main social dialogue outcomes. As Acocella and Leoni (2007) put forward the social pacts may constitute an instrument to trade wage moderation for high intensity in ICT, organizational and human capital investments. Empirical evidence, especially focused on the micro level, about the positive relation between economic growth and new organizational designs coupled with ICT adoption and non adversarial industrial relations is growing. Partnership among social parties may become an instrument to enhance firm competitiveness. The outcome of the discussion is the integration of organizational changes and industrial relations elements within a unified framework: the HPWS. Such a choice may help in disentangling the potential existence of complementarities between these two aspects of the firm internal structure on economic and innovative performance. With the third chapter starts the more original part of the thesis. The data utilized in order to disentangle the relations between HPWS practices, innovation and economic performance refer to the manufacturing firms of the Reggio Emilia province with more than 50 employees. The data have been collected through face to face interviews both to management (199 respondents) and to union representatives (181 respondents). Coupled with the cross section datasets a further data source is constituted by longitudinal balance sheets (1994-2004). Collecting reliable data that in turn provide reliable results needs always a great effort to which are connected uncertain results. Data at micro level are often subjected to a trade off: the wider is the geographical context to which the population surveyed belong the lesser is the amount of information usually collected (low level of resolution); the narrower is the focus on specific geographical context, the higher is the amount of information usually collected (high level of resolution). For the Italian case the evidence about the diffusion of HPWP and their effects on firm performances is still scanty and usually limited to local level studies (Cristini, et al., 2003). The thesis is also devoted to the deepening of an argument of particular interest: the existence of complementarities between the HPWS practices. It has been widely shown by empirical evidence that when HPWP are adopted in bundles they are more likely to impact on firm’s performances than when adopted in isolation (Ichniowski, Prennushi, Shaw, 1997). Is it true also for the local production system of Reggio Emilia? The empirical analysis has the precise aim of providing evidence on the relations between the HPWS dimensions and the innovative and economic performances of the firm. As far as the first line of analysis is concerned it must to be stressed the fundamental role that innovation plays in the economy (Geroski & Machin, 1993; Stoneman & Kwoon 1994, 1996; OECD, 2005; EC, 2002). On this point the evidence goes from the traditional innovations, usually approximated by R&D investment expenditure or number of patents, to the introduction and adoption of ICT, in the recent years (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000). If innovation is important then it is critical to analyse its determinants. In this work it is hypothesised that organizational changes and firm level industrial relations/employment relations aspects that can be put under the heading of HPWS, influence the propensity to innovate in product, process and quality of the firm. The general argument may goes as follow: changes in production management and work organization reconfigure the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, they shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves; cooperative industrial relations may lead to smother adoption of innovations, because not contrasted by unions. From the first empirical chapter emerges that the different types of innovations seem to respond in different ways to the HPWS variables. The underlying processes of product, process and quality innovations are likely to answer to different firm’s strategies and needs. Nevertheless, it is possible to extract some general results in terms of the most influencing HPWS factors on innovative performance. The main three aspects are training coverage, employees involvement and the diffusion of bonuses. These variables show persistent and significant relations with all the three innovation types. The same do the components having such variables at their inside. In sum the aspects of the HPWS influence the propensity to innovate of the firm. At the same time, emerges a quite neat (although not always strong) evidence of complementarities presence between HPWS practices. In terns of the complementarity issue it can be said that some specific complementarities exist. Training activities, when adopted and managed in bundles, are related to the propensity to innovate. Having a sound skill base may be an element that enhances the firm’s capacity to innovate. It may enhance both the capacity to absorbe exogenous innovation and the capacity to endogenously develop innovations. The presence and diffusion of bonuses and the employees involvement also spur innovative propensity. The former because of their incentive nature and the latter because direct workers participation may increase workers commitment to the organizationa and thus their willingness to support and suggest inovations. The other line of analysis provides results on the relation between HPWS and economic performances of the firm. There have been a bulk of international empirical studies on the relation between organizational changes and economic performance (Black & Lynch 2001; Zwick 2004; Janod & Saint-Martin 2004; Huselid 1995; Huselid & Becker 1996; Cappelli & Neumark 2001), while the works aiming to capture the relations between economic performance and unions or industrial relations aspects are quite scant (Addison & Belfield, 2001; Pencavel, 2003; Machin & Stewart, 1990; Addison, 2005). In the empirical analysis the integration of the two main areas of the HPWS represent a scarcely exploited approach in the panorama of both national and international empirical studies. As remarked by Addison “although most analysis of workers representation and employee involvement/high performance work practices have been conducted in isolation – while sometimes including the other as controls – research is beginning to consider their interactions” (Addison, 2005, p.407). The analysis conducted exploiting temporal lags between dependent and covariates, possibility given by the merger of cross section and panel data, provides evidence in favour of the existence of HPWS practices impact on firm’s economic performance, differently measured. Although it does not seem to emerge robust evidence on the existence of complementarities among HPWS aspects on performances there is evidence of a general positive influence of the single practices. The results are quite sensible to the time lags, inducing to hypothesize that time varying heterogeneity is an important factor in determining the impact of organizational changes on economic performance. The implications of the analysis can be of help both to management and local level policy makers. Although the results are not simply extendible to other local production systems it may be argued that for contexts similar to the Reggio Emilia province, characterized by the presence of small and medium enterprises organized in districts and by a deep rooted unionism, with strong supporting institutions, the results and the implications here obtained can also fit well. However, a hope for future researches on the subject treated in the present work is that of collecting good quality information over wider geographical areas, possibly at national level, and repeated in time. Only in this way it is possible to solve the Gordian knot about the linkages between innovation, performance, high performance work practices and industrial relations.
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Motivated by the need to understand which are the underlying forces that trigger network evolution, we develop a multilevel theoretical and empirically testable model to examine the relationship between changes in the external environment and network change. We refer to network change as the dissolution or replacement of an interorganizational tie, adding also the case of the formation of new ties with new or preexisting partners. Previous research has paid scant attention to the organizational consequences of quantum change enveloping entire industries in favor of an emphasis on continuous change. To highlight radical change we introduce the concept of environmental jolt. The September 11 terrorist attacks provide us with a natural experiment to test our hypotheses on the antecedents and the consequences of network change. Since network change can be explained at multiple levels, we incorporate firm-level variables as moderators. The empirical setting is the global airline industry, which can be regarded as a constantly changing network of alliances. The study reveals that firms react to environmental jolts by forming homophilous ties and transitive triads as opposed to the non jolt periods. Moreover, we find that, all else being equal, firms that adopt a brokerage posture will have positive returns. However, we find that in the face of an environmental jolt brokerage relates negatively to firm performance. Furthermore, we find that the negative relationship between brokerage and performance during an environmental jolt is more significant for larger firms. Our findings suggest that jolts are an important predictor of network change, that they significantly affect operational returns and should be thus incorporated in studies of network dynamics.
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This dissertation is about collective action issues in common property resources. Its focus is the “threshold hypothesis,” which posits the existence of a threshold in group size that drives the process of institutional change. This hypothesis is tested using a six-century dataset concerning the management of the commons by hundreds of communities in the Italian Alps. The analysis seeks to determine the group size threshold and the institutional changes that occur when groups cross this threshold. There are five main findings. First, the number of individuals in villages remained stable for six centuries, despite the population in the region tripling in the same period. Second, the longitudinal analysis of face-to-face assemblies and community size led to the empirical identification of a threshold size that triggered the transition from informal to more formal regimes to manage common property resources. Third, when groups increased in size, gradual organizational changes took place: large groups split into independent subgroups or structured interactions into multiple layers while maintaining a single formal organization. Fourth, resource heterogeneity seemed to have had no significant impact on various institutional characteristics. Fifth, social heterogeneity showed statistically significant impacts, especially on institutional complexity, consensus, and the relative importance of governance rules versus resource management rules. Overall, the empirical evidence from this research supports the “threshold hypothesis.” These findings shed light on the rationale of institutional change in common property regimes, and clarify the mechanisms of collective action in traditional societies. Further research may generalize these conclusions to other domains of collective action and to present-day applications.
Resumo:
Organizational and institutional scholars have advocated the need to examine how processes originating at an individual level can change organizations or even create new organizational arrangements able to affect institutional dynamics (Chreim et al., 2007; Powell & Colyvas, 2008; Smets et al., 2012). Conversely, research on identity work has mainly investigated the different ways individuals can modify the boundaries of their work in actual occupations, thus paying particular attention to ‘internal’ self-crafting (e.g. Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Drawing from literatures on possible and alternative self and on positive organizational scholarship (e.g., Obodaru, 2012; Roberts & Dutton, 2009), my argument is that individuals’ identity work can go well beyond the boundaries of internal self-crafting to the creation of new organizational arrangements. In this contribution I analyze, through multiple case studies, healthcare professionals who spontaneously participated in the creation of new organizational arrangements, namely health structures called Community Hospitals. The contribution develops this form of identity work by building a grounded model. My findings disclose the process that leads from the search for the enactment of different self-concepts to positive identities, through the creation of a new organizational arrangement. I contend that this is a particularly complex form of collective identity work because it requires, to be successful, concerted actions of several internal, external and institutional actors, and it also requires balanced tensions that – at the same time - enable individuals’ aspirations and organizational equilibrium. I name this process organizational collective crafting. Moreover I inquire the role of context in supporting the triggering power of those unrealized selves. I contribute to the comprehension of the consequences of self-comparisons, organizational identity variance, and positive identity. The study bears important insights on how identity work originating from individuals can influence organizational outcomes and larger social systems.