Enhancing service performance through transformational and transactional leadership styles

This paper is concerned with the effects that leadership styles can have upon service performance of front-line staff. Past literature on services marketing has indicated the importance of leadership but has largely ignored the parallel literature in which leadership styles have been conceptualized and operationalized (e.g., sales management, organizational psychology). Consequently, this paper develops a conceptual framework of the effect of leadership styles on service performance anchored in a cross-disciplinary literature review. Specific hypotheses are proposed and future research directions are presented

Decision-making of English Netball Superleague umpires: Contextual and dispositional influences

Objectives. The decisions made by officials have a direct bearing on the outcomes of competitive sport contests. In an exploratory study, we examine the interrelationships between the decisions made by elite netball umpires, the potential contextual and environmental influences (e.g., crowd size), and the umpires’ dispositional tendencies – specifically, their propensity to deliberate and ruminate on their decisions. Design/Method. Filmed footage from 60 England Netball Superleague matches was coded using performance analysis software. We measured the number of decisions made overall, and for home and away teams; league position; competition round; match quarter; and crowd size. Additionally, 10 umpires who officiated in the matches completed the Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). Results. Regression analyses predicted that as home teams’ league position improved the number of decisions against away teams increased. A model comprising competition round and average league position of both teams predicted the number of decisions made in matches, but neither variable emerged as a significant predictor. The umpire analyses revealed that greater crowd size was associated with an increase in decisions against away teams. The Decision Rumination factor was strongly negatively related to the number of decisions in Quarters 1 and 3, this relationship was driven by fewer decisions against home teams by umpires who exhibited higher Rumination subscale scores. Conclusions. These findings strengthen our understanding of contextual, environmental, and dispositional influences on umpires’ decision-making behaviour. The tendency to ruminate upon decisions may explain the changes in decision behaviour in relation to the home team advantage effect

Detection of 2.2-3.5 Terahertz Radiation Using a Quasi-Optically Mounted Planar Schottky Diode

Practical supra-terahertz (1–5 THz) heterodyne radiometry systems require compact local oscillator and mixer components, which are suitable for robust waveguide integration. We demonstrate detection of radiation emitted by quantum cascade lasers at frequencies between 2.2 and 3.5 THz using room-temperature quasi-optically mounted planar Schottky diodes. These diodes are more readily integrated into waveguides than point-contact diodes, do not require the cryogenic environment of hot-electron bolometers and offer potentially better noise performance than superlattice devices

Recommendations from an international expert panel on the use of neoadjuvant (primary) systemic treatment of operable breast cancer: new perspectives 2006

Neoadjuvant (primary systemic) treatment has become a standard option for primary operable disease for patients who are candidates for adjuvant systemic chemotherapy, irrespective of the size of the tumor. Because of new treatments and new understandings of breast cancer, however, recommendations published in 2006 regarding neoadjuvant treatment for operable disease required updating. Therefore, a third international panel of representatives of a number of breast cancer clinical research groups was convened in September 2006 to update these recommendations. As part of this effort, data published to date were critically reviewed and indications for neoadjuvant treatment were newly define

Planetary science and exploration in the deep subsurface: results from the MINAR Program, Boulby Mine, UK

The subsurface exploration of other planetary bodies can be used to unravel their geological history and assess their habitability. On Mars in particular, present-day habitable conditions may be restricted to the subsurface. Using a deep subsurface mine, we carried out a program of extraterrestrial analog research – MINe Analog Research (MINAR). MINAR aims to carry out the scientific study of the deep subsurface and test instrumentation designed for planetary surface exploration by investigating deep subsurface geology, whilst establishing the potential this technology has to be transferred into the mining industry. An integrated multi-instrument suite was used to investigate samples of representative evaporite minerals from a subsurface Permian evaporite sequence, in particular to assess mineral and elemental variations which provide small-scale regions of enhanced habitability. The instruments used were the Panoramic Camera emulator, Close-Up Imager, Raman spectrometer, Small Planetary Linear Impulse Tool, Ultrasonic drill and handheld X-ray diffraction (XRD). We present science results from the analog research and show that these instruments can be used to investigate in situ the geological context and mineralogical variations of a deep subsurface environment, and thus habitability, from millimetre to metre scales. We also show that these instruments are complementary. For example, the identification of primary evaporite minerals such as NaCl and KCl, which are difficult to detect by portable Raman spectrometers, can be accomplished with XRD. By contrast, Raman is highly effective at locating and detecting mineral inclusions in primary evaporite minerals. MINAR demonstrates the effective use of a deep subsurface environment for planetary instrument development, understanding the habitability of extreme deep subsurface environments on Earth and other planetary bodies, and advancing the use of space technology in economic mining

Quadratic effects of dynamic decision-making capability on innovation orientation and performance: Evidence from Chinese exporters

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. This study examines quadratic effects of three export decision-making approaches (planning, creativity and spontaneity) on innovation orientation, and the direct effect of innovation orientation on export market performance. The model, anchored in decision theory and dynamic capabilities, is tested on a sample of Chinese exporting firms using structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that while a greater proclivity to innovate is beneficial for export market performance, a more complex web of relationships is revealed between the three export decision-making approaches and innovation orientation, providing insights on the operationalization of a dynamic decision-making capability. Specifically, while an increasing level of export planning reduces an exporter's capacity to innovate, creativity has a positive direct effect on exporters’ innovation orientation, which also benefits from extreme spontaneity in export decision-making. We discuss theoretical contributions and export managerial implications of this dynamic decision-making capability for industrial marketing management

Decision-making of English Netball Superleague umpires: contextual and dispositional influences

Objectives: The decisions made by officials have a direct bearing on the outcomes of competitive sport contests. In an exploratory study, we examine the interrelationships between the decisions made by elite netball umpires, the potential contextual and environmental influences (e.g., crowd size), and the umpires' dispositional tendencies – specifically, their propensity to deliberate and ruminate on their decisions. Design/Method: Filmed footage from 60 England Netball Superleague matches was coded using performance analysis software. We measured the number of decisions made overall, and for home and away teams; league position; competition round; match quarter; and crowd size. Additionally, 10 umpires who officiated in the matches completed the Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). Results: Regression analyses predicted that as home teams' league position improved the number of decisions against away teams increased. A model comprising competition round and average league position of both teams predicted the number of decisions made in matches, but neither variable emerged as a significant predictor. The umpire analyses revealed that greater crowd size was associated with an increase in decisions against away teams. The Decision Rumination factor was strongly negatively related to the number of decisions in Quarters 1 and 3, this relationship was driven by fewer decisions against home teams by umpires who exhibited higher Rumination subscale scores. Conclusions: These findings strengthen our understanding of contextual, environmental, and dispositional influences on umpires' decision-making behaviour. The tendency to ruminate upon decisions may explain the changes in decision behaviour in relation to the home team advantage effect