Socio‐demographic factors and shared leadership behaviors in dispersed teams: Implications for human resource management

Companies increasingly make use of geographically dispersed teams to capture knowledge residing at different locations. In this context, shared leadership is considered a key enabler of team performance. Taking a functional perspective on shared leadership, we thus investigate the relationship between shared leadership behaviors and team performance in dispersed teams. Furthermore, we analyze how socio‐demographic factors that are characteristic for dispersed teams (i.e., high female‐to‐male ratio, high mean age, and high levels of national diversity) affect shared leadership behaviors. Based on data from 96 dispersed teams, we show that shared leadership behavior fosters team performance. Further, we find the socio‐demographic characteristics typical for dispersed teams to foster shared leadership. Theoretical and managerial implications for human resource management are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Narratives of Negotiation and Transformation: Women's Experiences within a Mixed-Gendered Gym

ABSTRACT

Those within the fitness industry claim that gyms provide accessible space for women (of certain economic status) to engage in activities that will increase their health. As such, gyms are marketed as safe, inclusive, and empowering spaces. Yet when viewing gym spaces through a feminist-informed lens, it becomes clear that gyms are not always innocuous spaces. They often reflect and perpetuate gendered power relations and highly prescribed cultural expectations for femininity around women's bodies, appearances, strength, and abilities. This narrative inquiry sought to illuminate women's gendered experiences within a for-profit mixed-gendered gym space. Through the use of unstructured life story interviews, this research highlights the dominant gendered expectations that women perceived within the gym and how these expectations influence women's gym use. The narratives also exposed several ways that gyms can be changed in order to facilitate more positive gym experiences for women.     

来博弈吧!

正经济学家长久以来一直在用博弈论理解世界。如今,工程师和计算机科学家也正在用这个理论重新构思他们的工作。你和一同犯下重大抢劫案的同伙都被警察抓获了,并且被关进不同的房间进行审问。如果你们两个都对犯罪保持沉默,就会被以较轻的罪名判处一年徒刑。如果你们两个都坦白交代,就都会坐5年牢。但是,如果你     

Heckscher–Ohlin theory when countries have different technologies

Rethinking the foundations of Heckscher–Ohlin theory when countries have different technologies, this paper shows how to make the proper adjustments for international productivity differences. The central tool is a factor conversion matrix that computes the local factor content of foreign Rybczynski effects. Factor-specific productivities are a special case of these more general linear relationships.     

A Credible Path for Ending Too Big to Fail

The high degree of concentration in the U.S. financial system has been intensified in the wake of the 2007–09 financial crisis. Implicit government support of banks that are deemed “too big to fail” has resulted in excessive risk taking and a focus on short-term rewards rather than long-term performance. This paper proposes a three-step plan to limit the federal safety net to commercial depository institutions and to restructure institutions so that no one institution poses systemic risk in the event of failure and that the largest banks face the same kind of risks of closure and market risk as the smallest.     

a beast of burden

How great is the burden of bureaucracy on the entrepreneur? Mike Fisher, an IEA trustee, writes from personal experience as managing director of Whale Tankers, a small private manufacturing company.     

Moving toward crisis preparedness: Factors that motivate organizations

This article proposes that factors such as the experience of a crisis, new members on the top management team, regulation, expectations of the industry association, and the potential threat of media scrutiny motivate organizations to make changes in their crisis preparation practices and move toward greater preparedness. It describes how each of these factors motivate organizations to make changes, and explains specific characteristics that are critical in creating fundamental versus superficial changes.     

Are your employees minding their behavior?

Self-managed, "tailored" behavioral change programs cross both wellness and disease management issues and can impact the bottom line on health care costs of both employer and employee. For example, a back pain program can help change employee behavior to prevent the incidence and upflow of a condition to more severe and debilitating situations.