Virtual HR Departments: Getting Out of the Middle

In this chapter, we explore the notion of virtual HR departments: a network-based organization built on partnerships and mediated by information technologies in order to be simultaneously strategic, flexible, cost-efficient, and service-oriented. We draw on experiences and initiatives at Merck Pharmaceuticals in order to show how information technology in establishing an infrastructure for virtual HR. Then, we present a model for mapping the architecture of HR activities that includes both internal and external sourcing options. We conclude by offering some recommendations for management practice as well as future research

Whom do high-growth firms hire?

We study employment and new hires among high-growth firms (HGFs) in the Swedish knowledge-intensive sectors 1999–2002. Using matched employer–employee data, we find that HGFs are more likely to employ young people,poorly educated workers, immigrants, and individuals who experienced longer unemployment periods. However, these patterns seem ontingent on the stageof the firm’s evolution. HGFs that have already realized some rapid growth are more likely to hire individuals from other firms, even though immigrants are still overrepresented among new hires. In the case of both HGF employees and HGF new hires, employment opportunities in HGFs are provided by young and small firms

ILR Impact Brief - Employee Attributions about HR Practices Lead to Customer Satisfaction

[Excerpt] The perceived reasons why management chooses a set of HR practices are linked to employee satisfaction, commitment, and on-the-job behavior. Employees individually make their own attributions about the purposes behind the practices, which are, in turn, associated with employees’ attitudes: a perception that management cares about service (or product) quality and employee well-being is associated with positive attitudes, but a sense that management is intent on cost cutting or employee exploitation is associated with negative attitudes. Furthermore, individual attitudes are shared within work units and in their aggregate are associated with “organizational citizenship behaviors;” i.e., group-level satisfaction and commitment are associated with intra-unit helping behaviors, which are linked to enhanced unit performance and customer satisfaction

Successful ceftolozane/tazobactam treatment of chronic pulmonary infection with pan‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The treatment of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is challenging, with resistance and antibiogram diversity accumulating during successive therapies. Some isolates are resistant to all licensed agents, creating treatment problems and an urgent need for new therapies. Among antibiotics in advanced development, ceftolozane/tazobactam has potent in vitro antipseudomonal activity, with low MICs even for strains with AmpC β‐lactamase‐, impermeability‐ and efflux‐mediated resistance to other β‐lactams

Learning to be Selfish

Purpose: To start a conversation about the importance of selfishness. Talking with students about the idea that it can be ok to be selfish at times

Mette Leonard Høeg, editor. Literary Theories of Uncertainty. Bloomsbury, 2021.

Review of Mette Leonard Høeg, editor. Literary Theories of Uncertainty. Bloomsbury, 2021. xi + 295 pp

Improved Oxidative Stability in Biodiesel via Commercially-Viable Processing Strategies

Biodiesel made from waste cooking oil (WCO) frequently requires antioxidants to meet oxidation stability specifications set forth in ASTM D6751 or EN 14214. In contrast, unrefined cottonseed oil (CSO), containing tocopherols and high concentrations of gossypol, a toxic polyphenolic antioxidant, is unique for biodiesel processing because it produces biodiesel resulting in higher oxidation stability. During biodiesel production, however, only a portion of these endogenous natural antioxidants are suspected to be retained. Because the economics of biodiesel manufacturing rely upon inexpensive sources of triglycerides, emphasis was placed upon developing improved alternative commercially-viable processing strategies where WCO is the main source of methyl esters (WCOME) and CSO is used as a supplemental source of triglycerides and antioxidants in a 4:1 ratio. This study compares four commercially-viable processing methods which attempt to increase the oxidation stability of WCO:CSO biodiesel. The measurement of the many endogenous antioxidant concentrations in the finished biodiesel was not performed; instead, the induction period (IP) was used to measure the bulk oxidative stability increase of the finished biodiesel. The novel processing strategies developed for this study utilize the solvent properties of fatty acid methyl esters and glycerol and are sustainable because they avoid additional chemical inventory for the biodiesel processor. This study concludes that two new processing strategies, a \u27reduced glycerol process\u27 or an \u27extraction process\u27, resulted in a biodiesel product that had statistically significant improved oxidation stability when compared to common processing strategies, a \u27mixed oil process\u27 or a \u27separate oil process\u27. Another significant finding is that high shear homogenization during transesterification reduced reaction time from the published typical one hour to 16 minutes

I heard that Main Hall is not the oldest building on campus. Can that be true?

Abbot Pennings answers a question about the oldest building on campus, archived from the SNC website