The influence of boards of directors’ characteristics on strategic decision-making: Evidence from Greek companies

This article is available open access from the publisher’s website at the link below.This study explores the influence Boards of Directors’ demographic characteristics on the process of making strategic decisions. Empirical testing is based on a sample of 105 Greek companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. The results suggest that educational level affect both the financial reporting and the hierarchical decentralisation in the strategic decision-making process. Also, functional background of executives was found to be related with financial reporting. However, the educational specialty did not appear to have any significant influence on the strategic decision-making process. In light of these findings, implications for practitioners are made and avenues for future research are suggested

Strategic decision-making processes as a mediator of the effect of board characteristics on company innovation: A study of publicly-listed firms in Greece

Based on the Upper Echelons Theory that suggests the demographic characteristics of executives are linked to organisational processes and outcomes, the paper proposes that strategic decision-making processes mediate the relationship between board members’ demographic characteristics and corporate innovation relating to product, process and organization. Based on questionnaires completed by 101 CEOs of Greek listed firms, the findings confirm that reporting and formalization as decision processes mediate the effect of board characteristics on innovation. Sound financial and formal mechanisms encourage Greek executives to take risks and invest in product or service innovation. Findings show that the executives’ educational level is positively associated with financial reporting and rule formalization activities due to the changes that have been occurred in the Greek education system over recent decades. Functional background is found to influence only financial reporting activities. Finally, the managerial implications of this study are discussed

Introductory students’ attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving: major, achievement level and gender differences

Students’ attitudes and approaches to problem solving are claimed to be related to their ways they learn physics and to their success in solving physics problems. In this study, the Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) survey was used to reveal Turkish introductory university students’ attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving. The data were collected from 175 students, in the spring semester of 2015-2016 academic year, from an introductory physics course at a university in the Black See Region of Turkey. The analysis of the data was conducted by grouping the data by major, achievement level, and gender. They were no statistically significant differences between the averages of civil engineering and molecular biology majors, and between male and female students. However, we obtained a small sample correlation between students’ attitudes and exam grades that suggests high achievers’ attitudes and approaches to physics problems are more expert-like than the attitudes and approaches of low achievers. Implications for problem solving strategies and directions for further research are discussedPeer Reviewe

Is Hostility Dancing Along with Conversion and Dissociation?

Background.Hysterical symptoms frequently accompany a variety of neurotic and even psychotic psychiatric syndromes and illnesses. Methods.The presence and course of these symptoms was investigated in the present study in 73 psychiatric patients. The relationship of conversion symptoms and dissociative symptoms, both two broad dimensions of hysterical symptomatology, with self-reported hostility was examined in particular. Results.It was found that changes in dissociative symptoms showed highly significant correlations with the changes of externally directed hostility but no significant association with those of internally directed hostility. There was no significant association between changes in hostility and changes in conversion symptoms. Conclusions.In patients recovering from mental illnesses (acute or relapses), as the dissociative symptoms became less marked so the patients expressed less extrapunitive forms of hostility. Changes in dissociative symptoms correlate significantly with changes in total hostility, as well. Conversion symptoms, on the other hand, do not correlate significantly with changes in these scales. It is also of interest that no significant correlations have been shown between the score changes of the intropunitive subscales with either conversion or dissociative symptoms

Integration of patient-reported outcome measures with key clinical outcomes after immediate latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction and adjuvant treatment

Background: linical evidence on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS) in breast reconstruction is lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate PROMs in implant-assisted latissimus dorsi (LDI) or tissue-only autologous latissimus dorsi (ALD) flap reconstruction in relation to complications and adjuvant treatments.Methods: this was a prospective cohort study involving six UK centres. Eligible patients had primary early-stage breast cancer. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality-of-life questionnaire (QLQ)-C30 and QLQ-BR23, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—Breast Cancer scale (FACT-B), Body Image Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were completed before operation and at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery.Results: a total of 182 patients (82 LDI and 100 ALD) were recruited between 2007 and 2010 with symptomatic (59·9 per cent) or screen-detected (39·6 per cent) cancers. Some 64·3 per cent had lymph node-negative disease; 30 per cent of the LDI group had radiotherapy, compared with 53·0 per cent in the ALD group (P = 0·004). Early complications up to 3 months after surgery were reported in 66 and 51·0 per cent of patients in the LDI and ALD groups respectively (P = 0·062) and long-term complications (4–12 months) in 48 and 45·0 per cent (P = 0·845). Role functioning and pain (P = 0·002 for both) were adversely affected in the ALD group compared with results in the LDI group, with no significant effects of radiotherapy on any health-related quality of life (HRQL). Chemotherapy and early complications adversely affected HRQL, which improved between 3 and 12 months after surgery (P < 0·010 for all).Conclusion: there is evidence of similar HRQL between types of latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction for up to a year after surgery. There appear to be no overarching effects for radiotherapy after mastectomy on the specific HRQL domains studied in the short term. The identification of variables that affect HRQL is important, including their integration into the analysis of PROM

The Development of Questionnaire to Investigate Students\u27 Attitudes and Approaches in Physics Problem Solving

This study aims to develop physics problem solving survey utilized to obtain students\u27 attitude and approach while solving physics problem. Several steps are conducted to develop the survey: validating, computing reliability, and testing. This research involves Physics Education students-Tanjungpura University who study at Fourth and Sixth semester. Furthermore, after questionnaire administered to the students, data are analysed through determining average score of the students and computing average percentage of students who are agree, neutral, and disagree based on semester and gender. The results show that the sixth semester students\u27 responses are more expertlike than those of the fourth semester students and female students are less expert than those male students. Based on semester and gender, majority of students have the same attitudes and approaches while solving problems. Students and experts have different attitudes about the role of mathematics in problem solving