A science mapping analysis of ‘marginality,stigmatization and social cohesion’ in WoS (1963–2019)

Quality & Quantity - The current socio-economic and politico-humanitarian crisis is reflected in the progressive entanglement of social cohesion. The increase of social, political, and economic...     

The implementation of the Wroclaw taxonomic method for the identification and evaluation of problem areas in the Warmia and Mazury Region in Poland – A case study

Problem areas are targeted by regional policy. The type and scope of spatial conflicts are analyzed to determine the most appropriate spatial planning measures. In this study, a problem area was defined as an integral spatial unit which is characterized by growth barriers, accumulation of negative phenomena, untapped resources and potential, and where support measures are required to promote growth and eliminate the existing obstacles to development. This study identifies and analyzes problem areas in the Region of Warmia and Mazury in Poland based on counties as the main taxonomic unit. For the needs of the analysis, it was assumed that problem areas are characterized by a high prevalence of adverse demographic and/or socioeconomic phenomena which constitute growth barriers and prevent these areas from harnessing their potential and the local resources. Spatio-functional parameters were taken into consideration to comprehensively describe spatial conditions in the analyzed region. Spatial variations were analyzed with the use of the Wrocław taxonomic method, where demographic, socioeconomic and spatio-functional criteria were evaluated separately. The Wrocław taxonomic method has never been described in English-language academic papers. According to research, areas with the greatest accumulation of socioeconomic and demographic problems in the Region of Warmia and Mazury are situated along the Polish border. The results can be used in the process of setting directions for development and implementing remedy measures at the regional level.     

Think talent – think male? A comparative case study analysis of gender inclusion in talent management practices in the German media industry

This paper contributes to our knowledge on talent management (TM) by conceptually and empirically investigating the peculiarities of TM and gender inclusion in talent development in the German context, as well as by analyzing whether TM is an inclusive HRM practice with respect to gender. Thus, we add an interdisciplinary perspective to the study of TM by linking it to important findings of gender and HRM studies with a specific focus on inclusion. A conceptualization of inclusive TM is suggested, and as a result of a comprehensive literature review, we identify five TM elements (talent definition, underlying career orientation, the content of talent development programs, the TM approach, and the talent selection process) which – depending on their design and characteristics – have an impact on the degree of gender bias and the discriminatory risk of TM. Respective propositions are suggested, and based on a qualitative comparative case study analysis, this paper provides empirical evidence from the German media industry, which shows important differences between cases in the identified TM elements and indicators concerning the gender inclusion of TM practices.     

Technology upgrading of Small-and-Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through a manpower secondment strategy – A mixed-methods study of Singapore's T-Up program

This paper outlines a scheme that uses manpower from public research institutes to assist the technology upgrading of Small-and-Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The Growing Enterprises through Technology Upgrading (GET-Up) initiative has been successfully implemented in Singapore since 2003. The key program in the initiative is a manpower secondment scheme (i.e. a temporary placement of manpower in a different organization) known as T-Up. We propose that T-Up represents a new approach to technology transfer which additionally maximizes the industrial impact of public sector research. Instead of traditional technology transfer modes which are transactions-based, T-Up utilizes skills and human resource transfer through secondment of public sector researchers. Findings from two surveys conducted in 2005 and 2012 show that the T-Up secondment program had positive impact on the technological capabilities, innovation performance and growth of participating companies. Additionally, case studies highlight that this approach addresses a wide range of challenges faced by local SMEs and is flexible enough to cater to specific needs and requirements.     

A study on the mean past lifetime of the components of (n − k + 1)-out-of-n system at the system level

In the present paper, we consider a (n − k + 1)-out-of-n system with identical components where it is assumed that the lifetimes of the components are independent and have a common distribution function F. We assume that the system fails at time t or sometime before t, t > 0. Under these conditions, we are interested in the study of the mean time elapsed since the failure of the components. We call this as the mean past lifetime (MPL) of the components at the system level. Several properties of the MPL are studied. It is proved that the relation between the proposed MPL and the underlying distribution is one-to-one. We have shown that when the components of the system have decreasing reversed hazard then the MPL of the system is increasing with respect to time. Some examples are also provided.     

A process approach to understanding multiple open source innovation contests – Assessing the contest structures,execution, and participant responses in the android developer challenges

As organizations recognize the importance of open innovation, understanding emerging mechanisms for soliciting outside participation is a growing area of academic interest. Strategies can be as diverse as hosting innovation contests, sponsoring open source software (OSS) communities, or engaging in bilateral partnerships. While these have been studied as distinct strategies, more recent work has identified the possibility for combining these approaches, or deploying different methods at different times. Because each of these open innovation strategies are characterized by different incentive systems as well as different work and social practices, the combination of these can reveal unexpected participant responses (e.g., collaboration in innovation contests, competitive behavior in OSS communities). This study examines an explicit attempt to combine these strategies, to host an open source innovation contest. Through the case of Google's Android Developer Challenge, a series of multi-million dollar innovation contests used to launch an OSS community over several years, this study utilized a process approach to understanding open source innovation contests to understand how participants responded and also how the contest conditions changed over time. We found several practices of competition and collaboration that worked around the short term and long term incentives and constraints posed by the contest. We also followed the contest through various transition phases and found that participants reacted strongly to changes in structure, execution, and shifting conditions over time. Through this case, we extend our understanding of innovation contests as a process and specifically the promises and pitfalls of open source innovation contests.     

Environmental Sustainability assessment 2.0: The value of social media data for determining the emotional responses of people to river pollution—A case study of Weibo (Chinese Twitter)

Urban river pollution has brought about serious challenges to residents in terms of bodily health and emotional well-being. Based on a social media platform, Chinese Twitter (Weibo), this paper proposes a research framework to investigate the emotional responses of people according to four dimensions: trends, seasons, space and dynamics (TSSD). This study presents several important findings. First, negative responses were much more common than positive ones across all seasons, 22.8% and 9.2%, respectively, which means that river pollution adversely affects residents' well-being in general. Second, negative responses are likely related to local garbage piles, landslides, heavy rains, traffic jams, and demolition, while positive reactions are likely related to beautiful weather or spending time with family members. Third, summer and winter are more likely to induce negative emotions than spring and autumn, with the negative index of summer or winter approaching 80%. This study confirmed that social media data are of great value in measuring the behaviors and emotional responses of humans to their surrounding environment.     

Toward a continuum of measurement scales in Just-in-Time (JIT) research – an examination of the predictive validity of single-item and multiple-item measures

We compare the predictive validity of single-item and multiple-item measures utilized in Just-in-Time (JIT) research. The study examines if single-item measures could be used for some of the JIT practices, especially if the object of inquiry is concrete singular and if the attribute to be researched is concrete. Arguments are developed for the concrete nature of the JIT practice of “set-up time reduction” and we examine the ability of a single-item measure of this variable to predict the criterion variable (delivery performance). In addition, the study also examines the efficacy of using multiple-item measures for variables that are abstract in nature, and thereby attempts to develop a continuum of JIT constructs ranging from concrete to abstract. The results obtained by analyzing two sets of survey data show that multiple-item measures are not necessarily more valid than single-item measures for all constructs. The findings provide evidence that multiple-item measures and single-item measures for scale development should be contingent upon the nature of constructs. For concrete constructs, single-item measures are as valid as multi-item measures. Meanwhile, for abstract constructs it is important to ensure that multiple items are considered to capture the multi-dimensional nature of these constructs. Results also reveal that JIT practices display significant differences in terms of abstract/concrete perceptions. The paper presents theoretical and practical implications of the findings, and offers directions for future research.     

Are employees more committed and willing to accept critical assignments during a crisis? A study of organizational commitment,professional commitment and willingness to care during the SARS outbreak in Taiwan

Few researches were involved in investigating the factors of commitment affecting employees' willingness to take critical assignment during a crisis. The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) event provided as a good arena for crisis research. The study focused on the impact of crisis on the employees' willingness to accept critical assignments and the influencing factors of their willingness. This empirical study of willingness is captured by comparing the nurses' willingness to take care of SARS patients during and after 2 years of SARS outbreak and investigating organizational commitment (OC) and professional commitment (PC) as the determinants of their willingness to care under SARS outbreak. Registered nurses were surveyed during (2003) and after (2005) the SARS outbreak. The results showed that crisis does not affect a change on employees' willingness to accept critical assigned jobs. However, the nurses had higher level of desire to stay at the job and lower level of professional identification during the SARS crisis. The determinants of the nurses' willingness to care for SARS patients with pooling data were organizational identification, and particularly willingness to work in extra efforts. To enhance employees' willingness to accept critical assignments during a crisis, improving their level of OC and PC is a direction for the management to work on.     

How to refuse a vote on the EU? The case against the referendum in the House of Commons (1974–2010)

Under what conditions do politicians oppose referendums especially to decide questions of European integration? Existing literature has identified reasons why governments and political parties pledge to hold non-mandatory referendums to ratify EU treaties or determine a country’s participation in the EU project, and some studies have analysed the effect of voter demand and attitudes towards EU referendums. This study examines the positions politicians themselves take towards popular participation in decision-making on the EU. The paper presents a summative content analysis of parliamentary debates in the United Kingdom between 1974 and 2010, tracing MPs’ arguments against using referendums to determine the UK’s participation in EU integration. Our results indicate that the range of claims made by MPs in the House of Commons against referendums on European matters has narrowed over time, although opposing arguments have continued to fall into the same set of four argumentative strategies. We find that institutional arguments, reflecting a Burkean understanding of representative democracy, consistently predominate over arguments that cite practical, political and manipulation concerns.     

The role of affective commitment and political skill in the work interfering with family (WIF) conflict – voluntary turnover relationship

The present study explores how political skill affects an employee’s coping behavior in response to Work Interfering with Family (WIF) conflict. Applying Conservation of Resource theory, we argue that politically skilled individuals are more cognizant of the social embeddedness of WIF, and because of cross-domain resource (e.g. time, attention, energy) depletion, lack the resources to cope with its effects. As such, they leverage their political skill to more effectively turnover from the organization than less politically skilled individuals by detaching their identity and lowering their affective commitment to their organization. We tested the hypotheses using a sample of 181 individuals from a retail firm, and results support the hypothesized model. First, a test of indirect effects confirmed that affective commitment partially mediated the link between WIF and voluntary turnover (measured six months later). Second, a moderated-mediation test revealed, as hypothesized, that affective commitment only functioned as a mediator for individual with high levels of political skill. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.