Achieving high performance outcomes through trust in virtual teams

Developing trust among team members is critical for achieving high performance outcomes. Recently, global business operations necessitated working in a team environment with colleagues outside traditional organizational boundaries, across distances, and across time zones. In this article, we discuss how human resource practices can support organizational initiatives when business operations mandate increased virtual teamwork. We examine the role of HR in enhancing relationship building and the development of trust among workers who may rarely, if ever, meet face-toface. Using research from teamwork, social exchange theory, and knowledge sharing, we discuss how four areas of human resources management—recruitment, training, performance appraisal, and compensation/reward— might combine with technology to facilitate the development of trust among virtual team members

IT and the NHS: Investigating different perspectives of IT using soft systems methodology

The UK NHS National Programme for IT has been criticized for a lack of clinical engagement. This paper uses a soft systems methodology (SSM) analysis of a case study from the use of electronic systems within a National Health Service (NHS) Mental Health Trust in the United Kingdom (UK) to explore the legal and ethical implications of the failure to develop clinical systems which are fit for purpose. Soft systems methodology (SSM) was used as a theoretical model both to derive deeper insights into the survey data and suggest how communication between those producing information and those using it, could be improved. Multiple methods were employed which included a postal survey and participant interviews to triangulate the data The use of SSM reinforced the concept that the national IT programme is based on a 'hard' systems view and does not take local factors (which are related to 'soft systems' thinking) into account. The study found administrative staff to be a crucial link between clinicians and information departments and highlighted the need for a joint-up information strategy and integrated systems. The article concludes with a discussion of the legal and ethical implications of the findings and the lessons for the broader UK national programme. It argues that the failure to deliver systems that are fit for purpose is not value neutral but an ethical issue

The role of corporate social responsibility and soft law options in the protection of migrant workers' interests in host countries: the case of Malaysia

This article examines the potential for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other soft law initiatives in generating change for blue-collar migrant workers in the Malaysian workplace. We explain the absence thus far of adequate protection for blue-collar migrant labour in formal law and corporate governance from a 'path-dependence' perspective and examine the potential of soft law options and government policies on labour migration as possible catalysts of change. The impact of the 1997 Asian fijinancial crisis in creating new corporate governance rules and government support for the development of CSR is discussed along with international initiatives, such as the United Nations Global Compact, whereby Malaysian companies have committed to playing a positive role in creating favourable outcomes for labour and human rights. Avenues of development vis-a-vis CSR and other soft law mechanisms for blue-collar migrant workers are offered. We conclude with a comment on the trajectory for CSR, soft law options and blue-collar migrant employee relations in Malaysia by highlighting the potential for hybrid labour regulation, whereby soft law may be hardened through creative methods of interpretation by the courts

The roles of deformation and orientation in heavy-ion collisions induced by light deformed nuclei at intermediate energy

The reaction dynamics of axisymmetric deformed $^{24}$Mg + $^{24}$Mg collisions have been investigated systematically by an isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IDQMD) model. It is found that different deformations and orientations result in apparently different properties of reaction dynamics. We revealed that some observables such as nuclear stopping power ($R$), multiplicity of fragments, and elliptic flow are very sensitive to the initial deformations and orientations. There exists an eccentricity scaling of elliptic flow in central body-body collisions with different deformations. In addition, the tip-tip and body-body configurations turn out to be two extreme cases in central reaction dynamical process.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Physical Review C (Rapid Communication

A methodology for exploring emergence in learning communities

Learning communities are becoming increasingly complex in nature, often being used to drive multiple agendas. For example, there is an increasing move to develop learning cities which seek to draw on synergies to both improve citizen learning and skills as well as economic regeneration. Such synergy-driven learning communities, of which the learning cities are but one example, seek to utilise interaction to develop 'emergent products', be it at the individual level or the system-wide level, which could not be produced in isolation. Successfully enabling emergence is critical to their success. Designing for specific types of emergence is however difficult given the intrinsic unpredictability of complex systems. Insight into the intrinsic characteristics of these synergy-driven learning communities and how their interaction leads to emergence over time is required. This paper reports on the methodology developed to explore these highly complex learning communities. The approach adopted was to combine exploratory case studies which established the intrinsic characteristics of the learning communities with an exploration of emergence guided by a meta-level conceptual framework of emergence. This was augmented by secondary data to aid triangulation and provide rigour. As well as discussing the rationale for the adopted approach, implementation issues and the rich information set obtained are discussed using specific case examples. Findings from the investigations led to recommendations regarding future development of appropriate methods for seeding and managing such complex learning communities. The meta level framework means the approach may be readily adapted to other complex social system

Beyond harsh trade? The relevance of ‘soft’ competitiveness factors for Ugandan enterprises to endure in Global Value Chains

This article is based on an empirical study which examined the issues of organization and coordination of global production and trade for the case of trade between Uganda and Europe.Respective experiences of 34 exporters in Uganda and 19 importers in Europe were documented through in-depth interviews and consequently analyzed. The article discusses matters of cooperation between the exporters and importers and points to its significance for upgrading and enhancing competitiveness of the exporters studied. It further identifies firm level ‘soft competitiveness factors’ (SCFs) of Ugandan exporters and discusses their relevance for the firms’ performance in Global Value Chains. The findings reveal that deficiencies in SCFs can have damaging effects, and vice-versa. Possession of the SCFs can yield significant competitive advantage for exporters and help to strengthen the relationship with the importers. Findings of ill-treatment of exporters by their importers highlight a particular kind of challenge that is often overseen in the debate about exports of African firms: the challenge regarding business behaviours, practices, and ethics including the ability to engage in relations with foreign buyers and leverage resources, knowledge and generally cooperation from them, first, and the general issue of problematic business practices in the global economy, second. The article policy recommends Policy, practice and research should focus on economic, political, social, cultural and institutional factors that impact on local levels of SCFs; to improve and help exporting enterprises in Africa to survive and succeed in GVCs, within the context of the state of the moral economy in global capitalism

Our side of the mirror : the (re)-construction of 1970s’ masculinity in David Peace’s Red Riding

David Peace and the late Gordon Burn are two British novelists who have used a mixture of fact and fiction in their works to explore the nature of fame, celebrity and the media representations of individuals caught up in events, including investigations into notorious murders. Both Peace and Burn have analysed the case of Peter Sutcliffe, who was found guilty in 1981 of the brutal murders of thirteen women in the North of England. Peace’s novels filmed as the Red Riding Trilogy are an excoriating portrayal of the failings of misogynist and corrupt police officers, which allowed Sutcliffe to escape arrest. Burn’s somebody’s Husband Somebody’ Son is a detailed factual portrait of the community where Sutcliffe spent his life. Peace’s technique combines reportage, stream of consciousness and changing points of views including the police and the victims to produce an episodic non linear narrative. The result has been termed Yorkshire noir. The overall effect is to render the paranoia and fear these crimes created against a backdrop of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Peace has termed his novels as “fictions of the facts”. This paper will examine the way that Peace uses his account of Sutcliffe’s crimes and the huge police manhunt to catch the killer to explore the society that produced the perpetrator, victims and the police. The police officers represent a form of “hegemonic masculinity” but one that is challenged by the extreme misogyny, brutality, misery and degradation that surround them. This deconstruction of the 1970s male police officer is contrasted with the enormously popular figure of Gene Hunt from the BBC TV series Life on Mars

Inkjet4Tex: Creative implications of 3D inkjet printing technologies for textiles

This project expands future applied-design capabilities for textiles as a function of inkjet deposition technology. The project investigates 3D inkjet rapid-production tools’ potential, focusing on creative gaps in the developing technology in its application to the textile design process. As such, the research investigates future design possibilities for inkjet printing technology in the creation of 3D textile structures and surfaces. The research “demonstrates how tacit knowledge can be employed, observed and created in a methodical way, with new artefacts playing a role in provoking insights based on tacit understanding”… [with a ] focus on developing and employing tacit insights that would not be revealed in situations where nothing has been changed.” (Rust, 2007) As inkjet textile technology evolves past a rapid prototyping tool into a series of responsive manufacturing techniques for textile products, designers, textile technology developers and soft goods industries will be able to use the results of this research to maximize their creative development. By developing and employing modified 2D/3D textile design processes with the technology future creators will be assisted to conceptualise and manufacture locally, creatively and with more accessible technologies. Keywords: 3D textiles, surface design, technology-driven design process, inkjet printing, fused deposition modelling, novel textile design</p