Putting the Horse Before the Cart: The Influence of Trigger Events on Justice Perceptions and Work Attitudes

To date very little research on organizational justice and work attitudes has focused on what starts the process that leads to these perceptions. A considerable amount of organizational research is focused on the end result (e.g., employees’ perceptions, attitudes, or behaviors), which can become difficult to effectively manage or change after-the-fact in a timely or productive manner (Tekleab et al., 2005). In this paper, two studies are conducted that explore a variety of events employees might notice and how they influence workplace outcomes. Study One explores 16 trigger events from prior research and surveys employees in a manufacturing organization about the events, and identifying 24 additional events. Study Two examines relationships between the trigger events and outcomes of pay and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave, using organizational justice as a mechanism for sensemaking. Results from Study Two show that trigger events significantly predicted all four workplace attitudes. Procedural justice was significantly related to all dependent variables, interactional justice was significantly related only to job satisfaction and intention to leave, marginally unrelated to pay satisfaction, and unrelated to organizational commitment. Distributive justice was significantly related to job satisfaction, intention to leave, and pay satisfaction, but not organizational commitment. Seven of the 48 interaction terms examined were significant. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed

Flood- and Weather-Damaged Homes and Mental Health: An Analysis Using England's Mental Health Survey

There is increasing evidence that exposure to weather-related hazards like storms and floods adversely affects mental health. However, evidence of treated and untreated mental disorders based on diagnostic criteria for the general population is limited. We analysed the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a large probability sample survey of adults in England (n = 7525), that provides the only national data on the prevalence of mental disorders assessed to diagnostic criteria. The most recent survey (2014–2015) asked participants if they had experienced damage to their home (due to wind, rain, snow or flood) in the six months prior to interview, a period that included months of unprecedented population exposure to flooding, particularly in Southern England. One in twenty (4.5%) reported living in a storm- or flood-damaged home in the previous six months. Social advantage (home ownership, higher household income) increased the odds of exposure to storm or flood damage. Exposure predicted having a common mental disorder over and above the effects of other known predictors of poor mental health. With climate change increasing the frequency and severity of storms and flooding, improving community resilience and disaster preparedness is a priority. Evidence on the mental health of exposed populations is key to building this capacity

Whiteness of A Name: Is “White” the Baseline?

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that Whiteness is used as a normative standard when comparing a variety of first names. Design/methodology/approach– Respondents (full- and part-time business students) evaluated names that sounded common, African-American, Russian, and unusual. Findings– Results from two studies suggest that “common” or “neutral” names are perceived to be white, and to be more American than African-American, Russian or unusual-sounding names. Results also demonstrate that the common names have more positive attributes, including socio-economic class. Research limitations/implications– The study found that the basic comparison of American respondents will be to a white person. Second, the authors applied Critical Race Theory (CRT) to the research on names. Finally, the authors demonstrate that unless they are totally anonymous, virtual teams will still have the type of social categorization and stereotyping of team members found in ordinary teams. Practical implications– Organizations and managers need to recognize that a “colorblind” approach simply reinforces the expectation that any differences in American organizations will be compared against the Whiteness standard. This can be a problem in any organizational setting, especially given the proliferation of virtual teams. This may be addressed with attempts to increase common in-group identity and strategies for identifying bias. Originality/value– In this research the authors integrate concepts and theory from Virtual Teams, CRT and the Psychology of Names, providing both theoretical and practical implications

The “Name Game”: Affective and Hiring Reactions to First Names

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine how the uniqueness and ethnicity of first names influence affective reactions to those names and their potential for hire. Design/methodology/approach – In study 1, respondents evaluated 48 names in terms of uniqueness and likeability, allowing us to select names viewed consistently as Common, Russian, African-American, and Unusual. In Study 2 respondents assessed the uniqueness and likeability of the names, and whether they would hire someone with the name. Findings – Results indicated that Common names were seen as least unique, best liked, and most likely to be hired. Unusual names were seen as most unique, least liked, and least likely to be hired. Russian and African-American names were intermediate in terms of uniqueness, likeability and being hired, significantly different from Common and Unique names, but not significantly different from each other. Research limitations/implications – The name an individual carries has a significant impact on how he or she is viewed, and conceivably, whether or not the individual is hired for a job. Practical implications – Human resource professionals need to be aware that there seems to be a clear bias in how people perceive names. When resumés are screened for hiring, names should be left off. Our findings also suggest that when selecting, parents may want to reconsider choosing something distinctive. Originality/value – This study offers original findings in regards to names, combining diverse research from social psychology and labor economics, and offering practical implications

Emissions mitigation schemes in Australia - The past, present and future

Australia was one of the first countries in the world to adopt mandatory emissions trading schemes as part of its emissions mitigation program. To date there have been six states and one federal emissions mitigation schemes. Some state schemes operate in conjunction with other states or the federal scheme and some operate independently. This complex set of regulations and requirements for emitters has led to a deficiency in nationwide coverage with no firm target set for Australia. In July 2011 the Federal Labor Government released details of a carbon tax proposal which was passed by the two houses of Parliament by the end of 2011 and was introduced in July 2012. The Government states that an emissions trading scheme will be introduced in 2015 with a possible link to the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). This paper provides a critical overview of Australian responses to climate change, with a particular emphasis on the numerous emissions mitigation schemes

On the Sum of Fisher-Snedecor F Variates and its Application to Maximal-Ratio Combining

Capitalizing on the recently proposed Fisher-Snedecor F composite fading model, in this letter, we investigate the sum of independent but not identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) Fisher-Snedecor F variates. First, a novel closed-form expression is derived for the moment generating function of the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio. Based on this, the corresponding probability density function and cumulative distribution function of the sum of i.n.i.d. Fisher- Snedecor F variates are derived, which are subsequently employed in the analysis of multiple branch maximal-ratio combining (MRC). Specifically, we investigate the impact of multipath and shadowed fading on the outage probability and outage capacity of MRC based receivers. In addition, we derive exact closed-form expressions for the average bit error rate of coherent binary modulation schemes followed by an asymptotic analysis which provides further insights into the effect of the system parameters on the overall performance. Importantly, it is shown that the effect of multipath fading on the system performance is more pronounced than that of shadowing.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Probing Fine-Scale Ionospheric Structure with the Very Large Array Radio Telescope

High resolution (~1 arcminute) astronomical imaging at low frequency (below 150 MHz) has only recently become practical with the development of new calibration algorithms for removing ionospheric distortions. In addition to opening a new window in observational astronomy, the process of calibrating the ionospheric distortions also probes ionospheric structure in an unprecedented way. Here we explore one aspect of this new type of ionospheric measurement, the differential refraction of celestial source pairs as a function of their angular separation. This measurement probes variations in the spatial gradient of the line-of-sight total electron content (TEC) to 0.001 TECU/km accuracy over spatial scales of under 10 km to over 100 km. We use data from the VLA Low-frequency Sky Survey (VLSS; Cohen et al. 2007, AJ 134, 1245), a nearly complete 74 MHz survey of the entire sky visible to the Very Large Array (VLA) telescope in Socorro, New Mexico. These data comprise over 500 hours of observations, all calibrated in a standard way. While ionospheric spatial structure varies greatly from one observation to the next, when analyzed over hundreds of hours, statistical patterns become apparent. We present a detailed characterization of how the median differential refraction depends on source pair separation, elevation and time of day. We find that elevation effects are large, but geometrically predictable and can be "removed" analytically using a "thin-shell" model of the ionosphere. We find significantly greater ionospheric spatial variations during the day than at night. These diurnal variations appear to affect the larger angular scales to a greater degree indicating that they come from disturbances on relatively larger spatial scales (100s of km, rather than 10s of km).Comment: Accepted for publication by The Astronomical Journa

Phonon-bottleneck enhanced magnetic hysteresis in a molecular paddle wheel complex of Ru25+_2^{5+}

The ruthenium based molecular magnet [Ru$_2$(D(3,5-Cl$_2$Ph)F)$_4$Cl(0.5H$_2$O)$\cdotp$C$_6$H$_{14}$] (hereafter Ru$_2$) behaves as a two-level system at sufficiently low temperatures. The authors performed spin detection by means of single-crystal measurements and obtained magnetic hysteresis loops around zero bias as a function of field sweeping rate. Compared to other molecular systems, Ru$_2$ presents an enhanced irreversibility as shown by ``valleys'' of negative differential susceptibility in the hysteresis curves. Simulations based on phonon bottleneck model are in good qualitative agreement and suggest an abrupt spin reversal combined with insufficient thermal coupling between sample and cryostat phonon bath.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

A Data Exchange Standard for Optical (Visible/IR) Interferometry

This paper describes the OI Exchange Format, a standard for exchanging calibrated data from optical (visible/infrared) stellar interferometers. The standard is based on the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS), and supports storage of the optical interferometric observables including squared visibility and closure phase -- data products not included in radio interferometry standards such as UV-FITS. The format has already gained the support of most currently-operating optical interferometer projects, including COAST, NPOI, IOTA, CHARA, VLTI, PTI, and the Keck Interferometer, and is endorsed by the IAU Working Group on Optical Interferometry. Software is available for reading, writing and merging OI Exchange Format files.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figur