Gossip in organisations: Contexts, consequences and controversies

This article examines the key themes surrounding gossip including its contexts, the various outcomes (positive and negative) of gossip as well as a selection of challenges and controversies. The challenges which are highlighted revolve around definitional issues, methodological approaches, and ethical considerations. Our analysis suggests that the characteristics and features of gossip lend itself to a process-oriented approach whereby the beginning and, particularly, end points of gossip are not always easily identified. Gossip about a subject or person can temporarily disappear only for it to re-surface at some later stage. In addition, questions pertaining to the effects of gossip and ethical-based arguments depend on the nature of the relationships within the gossip triad (gossiper, listener/respondent and target)

When Do Sustainability Tensions Harm or Benefit Innovation Portfolios? A Paradoxical Perspective

The coexistence of a competitive and sustainability strategy often introduces tensions within organizations. These tensions, if not appropriately managed, can lead to defensiveness and destruction, while they also have the potential to drive creativity and foster sustainability. This study examines how these strategic tensions affect innovation portfolio decision-makers, specifically their decision to select more or less innovative projects. Drawing on paradox theory and innovation management literature, the study investigates the role of contextual factors in moderating the influence of strategic sustainability tensions on portfolio innovativeness. When faced with sustainability tensions, we posit that a firm's entrepreneurial orientation and innovation climate act as contextual factors shaping decisions toward more innovative projects. We test our hypotheses through a multi-informant cross-industry survey of 106 innovation portfolios. Our findings reveal that strategic sustainability tensions are associated with higher portfolio innovativeness only when entrepreneurial orientation and innovation climate are high. Conversely, strategic sustainability tensions are associated with lower portfolio innovativeness when these contextual factors are low. The study adds empirical evidence to organizational context factors in paradox theory and contributes to the literature on innovation portfolio decision-making. Finally, the results add to the importance of sustainability as a strategic orientation in innovation management. Decision-makers are encouraged to recognize and harness strategic tensions in sustainability, fostering an environment where challenges are transformed into opportunities enhancing the portfolio's innovativeness

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

This study systematically investigates how language barriers influence trust formation in multinational teams (MNTs). Based on 90 interviews with team members, team leaders, and senior managers in 15 MNTs in three German automotive corporations, we show how MNT members’ cognitive and emotional reactions to language barriers influence their perceived trustworthiness and intention to trust, which in turn affect trust formation. We contribute to diversity research by distinguishing the exclusively negative language effects from the more ambivalent effects of other diversity dimensions. Our findings also illustrate how surface-level language diversity may create perceptions of deep-level diversity. Furthermore, our study advances MNT research by revealing the specific influences of language barriers on team trust, an important mediator between team inputs and performance outcomes. It thereby encourages the examination of other team processes through a language lens. Finally, our study suggests that multilingual settings necessitate a reexamination and modification of the seminal trust theories by Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995) and McAllister (1995). In terms of practical implications, we outline how MNT leaders can manage their subordinates’ problematic reactions to language barriers and how MNT members can enhance their perceived trustworthiness in multilingual settings

LES, DNS and RANS for the analysis of high-speed turbulent reacting flows

The purpose of this research is to continue our efforts in advancing the state of knowledge in large eddy simulation (LES), direct numerical simulation (DNS), and Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) methods for the computational analysis of high-speed reacting turbulent flows. In the second phase of this work, covering the period 1 Sep. 1993 - 1 Sep. 1994, we have focused our efforts on two research problems: (1) developments of 'algebraic' moment closures for statistical descriptions of nonpremixed reacting systems, and (2) assessments of the Dirichlet frequency in presumed scalar probability density function (PDF) methods in stochastic description of turbulent reacting flows. This report provides a complete description of our efforts during this past year as supported by the NASA Langley Research Center under Grant NAG1-1122

Aquatic biological invasions exacerbate nutritional and health inequities

Fish are a critical source of accessible nutrition. However, when non-native species introduced through aquaculture establish in the wild, they inevitably alter the structure of ecological networks. This could have unprecedented outcomes for nutrient and toxin accumulation when aquatic food is consumed by humans, with socioeconomically variable impacts

'The nourishing soil of the soul': The role of horticultural therapy in promoting well-being in community-dwelling people with dementia.

Two-thirds of people with dementia reside in their own homes; however, support for community-dwelling people with dementia to continue to participate in everyday activities is often lacking, resulting in feelings of depression and isolation among people living with the condition. Engagement in outdoor activities such as gardening can potentially counteract these negative experiences by enabling people with dementia to interact with nature, helping to improve their physical and psychological well-being. Additionally, the collaborative nature of community gardening may encourage the development of a sense of community, thereby enhancing social integration. Despite increasing evidence supporting its therapeutic value for people with dementia in residential care, the benefits of horticultural therapy have yet to be transposed into a community setting. This paper will examine the theoretical support for the application of horticultural therapy in dementia care, before exploring the potential of horticultural therapy as a means of facilitating improved physical and psychological well-being and social integration for people living with dementia within the community

Reply to Justin D’Arms

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43371/1/11098_2005_Article_2319.pd

Cryo-EM structures of complex I from mouse heart mitochondria in two biochemically defined states.

Complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) uses the reducing potential of NADH to drive protons across the energy-transducing inner membrane and power oxidative phosphorylation in mammalian mitochondria. Recent cryo-EM analyses have produced near-complete models of all 45 subunits in the bovine, ovine and porcine complexes and have identified two states relevant to complex I in ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here, we describe the 3.3-Å structure of complex I from mouse heart mitochondria, a biomedically relevant model system, in the 'active' state. We reveal a nucleotide bound in subunit NDUFA10, a nucleoside kinase homolog, and define mechanistically critical elements in the mammalian enzyme. By comparisons with a 3.9-Å structure of the 'deactive' state and with known bacterial structures, we identify differences in helical geometry in the membrane domain that occur upon activation or that alter the positions of catalytically important charged residues. Our results demonstrate the capability of cryo-EM analyses to challenge and develop mechanistic models for mammalian complex I