1,670 research outputs found

    ’The Changing Contours of Fairness: Using Multiple Lenses to Focus the HRM Research Agenda

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    Purpose: Organizational justice research has become the main paradigm of research in the field of HRM. The paper outlines a number of underlying challenges to which this paradigm is illsuited. It broadens the traditional understanding of what is meant by fairness within the HRM literature to help explain how justice judgements are formed and may be used to influence societal level fairness processes. It develops a framework to aid our understanding of the fairness of decisions that individuals or organizations make. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a conceptual review of the main paradigms used in fairness research. It draws upon the organizational justice literature as the dominant paradigm in HRM research, and conducts a cross-disciplinary review that introduces a range of theories less frequently used by HRM researchers – specifically capability theory, game theory, tournament theory, equity sensitivity theory, theories of intergenerational equity and burden sharing. It demonstrates the relevance of these theories to a number of areas of organizational effectiveness. Findings: The paper shows that researchers are now augmenting the organizational justice research paradigm under two important pressures – (1) awareness of hidden structures that preclude the option for real fairness; and (2) new variables that are being added to the consideration of organizational justice. Research limitations/implications: The fairness theories are used to identify a number of important and future research agendas in the field of HRM. Many of the judgements made by employee suggested by the theories now need measurement at the individual level. It remains to be seen whether these judgements are highly situational and context-dependent or may be used to identify important individual characteristics. It is also likely that fairness judgements act as an important of a range of HRM-related outcomes such as trust and engagement. practical implications HR functions have invested significant resources in employee engagement or insight units, but if their policies trigger significant inequality of outcomes, perceived problems of justice, a lack of burden sharing, no sense proportionality, organizations may not be able to achieve other important HR strategies such as sustaining and deepening employee engagement, developing organizational advocacy, building an employer brand, or being seen to have authenticity in its values. The framework suggests a broadened educational base for HR practitioners around fairness. It also suggests that there may be complex employees segments concerning perceptions of fairness. Originality/value: The cross-disciplinary perspective taken on fairness helps deconstruct the judgements that employees likely make, enabling organizations and individuals alike to ask more critical questions about their respective behaviour

    Diversity and Mega-Targets of Selection from the Characterization of a Barley Collection

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    Germplasm exchange is essential for assuring genetic gain in a breeding program. Two aspects of breeding programs are relevant to making them compatible for germplasm exchange: the amount of genetic diversity within programs and the identifi cation of breeding programs with similar breeding objectives and environments of selection (i.e., mega-targets of selection). The objective of this study was to develop a data-driven method to group breeding programs likely to be compatible for germplasm exchange and to use phenotypic characterization data of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) from breeding programs to illustrate this method. In two locations in Uruguay we evaluated 20 traits in 353 genotypes of barley from 23 private and public breeding programs distributed worldwide. We found signifi cant amounts of genetic diversity for all traits, but differences in diversity among programs for only seven traits. We identifi ed programs with high (Western Australia Department of Agriculture; University of Saskatchewan; and Svalöf Weibull Ab, Sweden) and low diversity (winter program of Osijek Agricultural Institute, Croatia; spring program of Osijek Agricultural Institute, Croatia; Saatzucht Josef Breun, Germany; Busch Agricultural Resources; USDA-ARS, Aberdeen, ID; and University of Minnesota). We developed a methodology that groups programs with similar performance and response to the environments. We used the methodology to group the 23 breeding programs of barley into sets that might benefi t most from germplasm exchange. The identifi cation of compatible programs for germplasm exchange could be relevant for improving genetic gains in breeding programs

    Can Households Cope with Health Shocks in Vietnam?

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    This paper investigates the economic impact of health shocks on working-age adults in Vietnam during 2004-2008, using a fixed effects specification. Health shocks cover disability and morbidity and are measured by 'days unable to carry out regular activity', 'days in bed due to illness/injury', and 'hospitalization'. Overall, Vietnamese households are able to smooth total non-health expenditures in the short run in the face of a significant rise in out-of-pocket health expenditures. However, this is accomplished through vulnerability-enhancing mechanisms, especially in rural areas, including increased loans and asset sales and decreased education expenditures. Female-headed and rural households are found to be the least able to protect consumption. Results highlight the need to extend and deepen social protection and universal health coverage. © 2015 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

    Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

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    A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

    Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

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    Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

    No jacket required – new fungal lineage defies dress code

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    Analyses of environmental DNAs have provided tantalizing evidence for “rozellida” or “cryptomycota”, a clade of mostly undescribed and deeply diverging aquatic fungi. Here, we put cryptomycota into perspective through consideration of Rozella , the only clade member growing in culture. This is timely on account of the publication in Nature of the first images of uncultured cryptomycota from environmental filtrates, where molecular probes revealed non‐motile cyst‐like structures and motile spores, all lacking typical fungal chitinous cell walls. Current studies of Rozella can complement these fragmentary observations from environmental samples. Rozella has a fungal‐specific chitin synthase and its resting sporangia have walls that appear to contain chitin. Cryptomycota, including Rozella , lack a cell wall when absorbing food but like some other fungi, they may have lost their “dinner jacket” through convergence. Rather than evolutionary intermediates, the cryptomycota may be strange, divergent fungi that evolved from an ancestor with a nearly complete suite of classical fungal‐specific characters.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90101/1/94_ftp.pd

    Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

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    The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

    Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

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    The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

    The Incredible Years Autism Spectrum and Language Delays Parent program: A pragmatic, feasibility randomized controlled trial

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    Behavior problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are common and particularly stressful for parents. This study aimed to examine the feasibility of delivering a parenting program in existing services, and the feasibility of conducting a future large‐scale Randomized Controlled Trial evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention. Parents of children aged 3–8 years with a diagnosis of ASD, or strongly suspected ASD were eligible to participate. A multicenter, pragmatic, feasibility randomized controlled trial was conducted in four specialist children's services in Wales. Families were randomly assigned to receive the Incredible Years® Autism Spectrum and Language Delays (IY‐ASLD) parent program immediately or to a wait‐list, treatment as usual control condition. IY‐ASLD sessions were delivered once a week for 12 weeks. The primary outcomes related to feasibility (recruitment, retention, fidelity, and acceptability). Preliminary outcome analyses were conducted using covariance models controlling for study site and baseline scores. From October 5 to December 19, 2016, 58 families were randomized, 29 to IY‐ASLD and 29 to control. Three parents did not attend any sessions while 19 (73%) completed the program. Fidelity of delivery was high (88%), as was satisfaction with the program. Fifty‐three (91%) completed the follow‐up measures. All 95% CIs for effect sizes included zero in exploratory outcome analyses. This study supports the feasibility of delivering the IY‐ASLD in existing services with good levels of acceptability and fidelity evident. A larger randomized controlled trial is required to examine the effectiveness of the program. Autism Res 2019. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc
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