Individual Consequences of Monitoring Under Gainsharing: Expanding Agency Theory Predictions

Agency theory suggests that gainsharing produces changes in monitoring within teams, however, the implications of monitoring on individual behavior have not yet been examined. This research expands agency theory by exploring the behavioral implications of peer monitoring under gainsharing. Performance data from both individual workers and managers show that peer monitoring has either zero or positive effects on five categories of individual behavior. However, focus group, interview, and company generated survey data indicate the existence of concealment and perhaps retaliatory behaviors in response to gainsharing

An introduction to RIVPACS

RIVPACS (River InVertebrate Prediction And Classification System) is a software package developed by the Institute of Freshwater Ecology (IFE). The primary application is to assess the biological quality of rivers within the UK. RIVPACS offers site-specific predictions of the macroinvertebrate fauna to be expected in the absence of major environmental stress. The expected fauna is derived by RIVPACS using a small suite of environmental characteristics. The biological evaluation is then obtained by comparing the fauna observed at the site with the expected fauna. RIVPACS also includes a site classification based on the macroinvertebrate fauna of the component reference sites. New sites, judged by their fauna to be of high biological quality, may be allocated to classification groups within the fixed RIVPACS classification. This has potential for evaluating sites for conservation. In this chapter, the origins and history of the RIVPACS approach are described, including major scientific and operational developments over the life of the project. RIVPACS III is described in detail and predictions at different taxonomic levels are demonstrated. The value of the reference dataset for river management and conservation is examined, and the chapter concludes with a brief consideration of some future challenges

How Supervisors Influence Performance: A Multilevel Study of Coaching and Group Management in Technology-Mediated Services

This multilevel study examines the role of supervisors in improving employee performance through the use of coaching and group management practices. It examines the individual and synergistic effects of these management practices. The research subjects are call center agents in highly standardized jobs, and the organizational context is one in which calls, or task assignments, are randomly distributed via automated technology, providing a quasi-experimental approach in a real-world context. Results show that the amount of coaching that an employee received each month predicted objective performance improvements over time. Moreover, workers exhibited higher performance where their supervisor emphasized group assignments and group incentives and where technology was more automated. Finally, the positive relationship between coaching and performance was stronger where supervisors made greater use of group incentives, where technology was less automated, and where technological changes were less frequent. Implications and potential limitations of the present study are discussed

Improvement of Pheromone Trapping in Low Density Populations of \u3ci\u3eChoristoneura Pinus Pinus\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Pheromone baited bucket traps (e.g., Multipher) are popular as a monitoring tool for the jack pine budworm, Choristoneura pinus pinus Freeman (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in Canada. However, there is no evidence to support their use when budworm populations are low. We therefore evaluated the capture rate of bucket traps at two placement heights (2 vs 6 m) in two jack pine forests in 2011, having low (≤5 fifth instars per mfoliated branch length) budworm populations. Compared to wing traps (e.g., Pherocon 1C), the trap design used initially to evaluate efficacy of the C. pinus pheromone, bucket traps caught fewer C. pinus and capture rates of both trap designs did not differ significantly between the two heights tested. Loss of bucket traps at 2 m, due to black bears, suggested that higher placement of traps was warranted to maintain the integrity of the array. However, wing traps are recommended due to their ability to consistently catch more moths when C. pinus populations are low

An Assessment of PIER Electric Grid Research 2003-2014 White Paper

This white paper describes the circumstances in California around the turn of the 21st century that led the California Energy Commission (CEC) to direct additional Public Interest Energy Research funds to address critical electric grid issues, especially those arising from integrating high penetrations of variable renewable generation with the electric grid. It contains an assessment of the beneficial science and technology advances of the resultant portfolio of electric grid research projects administered under the direction of the CEC by a competitively selected contractor, the University of California’s California Institute for Energy and the Environment, from 2003-2014