Research Report on Phase 4 of Cornell University/Gevity Institute Study Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance in Small Businesses: A Look at the Effects of HR Practices on Financial Performance and Turnover

In this study, we found evidence that groups of HR practices that represent different strategies for managing employees were significantly related to the financial performance of small companies. In particular, we found that an employee selection strategy based on person-organization fit, employee management strategy based on self-management, and employee motivation and retention strategy based on creating a family-like environment were all significantly related to firm performance in terms of revenue and profit growth. In addition, we found that the relationships between these HR strategies and firm performance were stronger in firms that face greater competition, are pursuing growth strategies, and are larger in size

Research Report On Phase 3 of the Cornell University/Gevity Institute Study – Employee Outcomes: Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance In Small Businesses

[Excerpt] Improving company performance is something of interest to all small business leaders. Small business leaders have many tools at their disposal — from finance to marketing to customer service — that could potentially improve the performance of their company. Among these tools is the way that small business leaders manage their people. As has been mentioned in previous reports, research has shown that people management does indeed impact company performance, even at the financial level. Studies show increases in value per employee of up to $40,000 and survival rates for IPO firms as much as 20% higher for companies that effectively manage their human resources. The Cornell University/Gevity Institute study of human resource management practices in small businesses is attempting to answer two important questions faced by small business leaders: 1. Do people contribute to the success of small businesses? 2. What human resource management strategies and practices can small business leaders employ to foster firm success? In phase two of the study, we found that employee management practices help small employers improve workforce alignment, which was defined as having the right people with the right skills in the right jobs. Firms with high levels of workforce alignment experience higher performance than firms with lower levels of workforce alignment. Building on these findings, the third phase of the study addresses the positive employee outcomes that can result from effective people management and seeks to understand which employee outcomes or behaviors tend to lead to different types of performance outcomes important to small business leaders. The results for this study were taken from a sample of 111 small companies where responses were received from both the top manager as well as the employees. Companies ranged in size from 10 to 165 employees with an average size of approximately 30 employees representing a broad range of industries. The results of the study will be presented as follows: First, we briefly discuss what is known about how human resource management impacts performance through employees. Second, we discuss the performance outcomes, and employee outcomes and behaviors that were studied as well as the specific employee behaviors and outcomes that seem to drive the different kinds of performance. Finally, we present some key takeaways from the results of this study

A Qualitative Investigation of the Human Resource Management Practices in Small Businesses

This report provides a summary of our findings from the first phase of our study on human resource practices in small businesses based on qualitative interviews with top managers and owners of small businesses. Below we include a brief description of the sample and an explanation of the hurdle that we experienced when using the terms human resource management practices. On the following pages, we report the main findings of the qualitative phase of our study. The findings are organized into three main sections around the areas of management philosophies, employee management practices, and key employee outcomes that link management practices to firm performance. The overall findings from this first report are summarized in a research model depicted in Figure 1. Funding for this research was provided by the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell University and Gevity, is a provider of comprehensive human capital management solutions to small and medium-sized businesses

A Qualitative Investigation of the Human Resources Management Practices in Small Businesses

This report provides a summary of our findings from the first phase of our study on human resource practices in small businesses based on qualitative interviews with top managers and owners of small businesses. Below we include a brief description of the sample and an explanation of the hurdle that we experienced when using the terms human resource management practices. On the following pages, we report the main findings of the qualitative phase of our study. The findings are organized into three main sections around the areas of management philosophies, employee management practices, and key employee outcomes that link management practices to firm performance. The overall findings from this first report are summarized in a research model depicted in Figure 1. Funding for this research was provided by the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell University and Gevity, is a provider of comprehensive human capital management solutions to small and medium-sized businesses

Entrepreneurial Human Resource Strategy

[Excerpt] Entrepreneurship is the process by which opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000: 218). In other words, it is the process by which organizations and individuals convert new knowledge into new opportunities in the form of new products and services. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) has been defined as the system of organizational practices and policies used to manage employees in a manner that leads to higher organizational performance (Wright and McMahan, 1992). Further, one perspective suggests that sets of HR practices do not themselves create competitive advantage; instead, they foster the development of organizational capabilities which in turn create such advantages (Lado and Wilson, 1994; Wright, Dunford, and Snell, 2001). Specifically, this body of literature suggests that HR practices lead to firm performance when they are aligned to work together to create and support the employee-based capabilities that lead to competitive advantage (Wright and Snell, 2000; Wright, Dunford, and Snell, 2001). Thus, entrepreneurial human resource strategy is best defined as the set or sets of human resources practices that will increase the likelihood that new knowledge will be converted to new products or services

Employee Outcomes: Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance in Small Businesses

[Abstract] Improving company performance is something of interest to all small business leaders. Small business leaders have many tools at their disposal — from finance to marketing to customer service — that could potentially improve the performance of their company. Among these tools is the way that small business leaders manage their people. As has been mentioned in previous reports, research has shown that people management does indeed impact company performance, even at the financial level. Studies show increases in value per employee of up to $40,000 and survival rates for IPO firms as much as 20% higher for companies that effectively manage their human resources. The Cornell University/Gevity Institute study of human resource management practices in small businesses is attempting to answer two important questions faced by small business leaders: 1. Do people contribute to the success of small businesses? 2. What human resource management strategies and practices can small business leaders employ to foster firm success? In phase two of the study, we found that employee management practices help small employers improve workforce alignment, which was defined as having the right people with the right skills in the right jobs. Firms with high levels of workforce alignment experience higher performance than firms with lower levels of workforce alignment. Building on these findings, the third phase of the study addresses the positive employee outcomes that can result from effective people management and seeks to understand which employee outcomes or behaviors tend to lead to different types of performance outcomes important to small business leaders. The results for this study were taken from a sample of 111 small companies where responses were received from both the top manager as well as the employees. Companies ranged in size from 10 to 165 employees with an average size of approximately 30 employees representing a broad range of industries. The results of the study will be presented as follows: First, we briefly discuss what is known about how human resource management impacts performance through employees. Second, we discuss the performance outcomes, and employee outcomes and behaviors that were studied as well as the specific employee behaviors and outcomes that seem to drive the different kinds of performance. Finally, we present some key takeaways from the results of this study

Global diversity of inland water cnidarians

Global diversity of inland water cnidarians is low, containing <40 species belonging to phylogenetically distinct groups representing independent invasion events: the common and cosmopolitan hydras (12-15species); the sporadically occurring freshwater medusae (6-16sp.); the Cordylophorinae (2sp.); the parasitic Polypodium (1sp.); the medusae occurring in saline lakes (4sp.). Freshwater cnidarians inhabit nearly all types of freshwater on all continents (except Antarctica), but only a few species have cosmopolitan distributions. Due to uncertainty in species knowledge, fine scale regions of endemicity are not yet clea

The inverse solution of the atomic mixing equations by an operator-splitting method

The quantification problem of recovering the original material distribution from secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) data is considered in this paper. It is an inverse problem, is ill-posed and hence it requires a special technique for its solution. The quantification problem is essentially an inverse diffusion or (classically) a backward heat conduction problem. In this paper an operator-splitting method (that is proposed in a previous paper by the first author for the solution of inverse diffusion problems) is developed for the solution of the problem of recovering the original structure from the SIMS data. A detailed development of the quantification method is given and it is applied to typical data to demonstrate its effectiveness

Associations among Wine Grape Microbiome, Metabolome, and Fermentation Behavior Suggest Microbial Contribution to Regional Wine Characteristics.

UnlabelledRegionally distinct wine characteristics (terroir) are an important aspect of wine production and consumer appreciation. Microbial activity is an integral part of wine production, and grape and wine microbiota present regionally defined patterns associated with vineyard and climatic conditions, but the degree to which these microbial patterns associate with the chemical composition of wine is unclear. Through a longitudinal survey of over 200 commercial wine fermentations, we demonstrate that both grape microbiota and wine metabolite profiles distinguish viticultural area designations and individual vineyards within Napa and Sonoma Counties, California. Associations among wine microbiota and fermentation characteristics suggest new links between microbiota, fermentation performance, and wine properties. The bacterial and fungal consortia of wine fermentations, composed from vineyard and winery sources, correlate with the chemical composition of the finished wines and predict metabolite abundances in finished wines using machine learning models. The use of postharvest microbiota as an early predictor of wine chemical composition is unprecedented and potentially poses a new paradigm for quality control of agricultural products. These findings add further evidence that microbial activity is associated with wine terroirImportanceWine production is a multi-billion-dollar global industry for which microbial control and wine chemical composition are crucial aspects of quality. Terroir is an important feature of consumer appreciation and wine culture, but the many factors that contribute to terroir are nebulous. We show that grape and wine microbiota exhibit regional patterns that correlate with wine chemical composition, suggesting that the grape microbiome may influence terroir In addition to enriching our understanding of how growing region and wine properties interact, this may provide further economic incentive for agricultural and enological practices that maintain regional microbial biodiversity

Enhanced anticancer activity of a combination of docetaxel and Aneustat (OMN54) in a patient-derived, advanced prostate cancer tissue xenograft model.

The current first-line treatment for advanced metastatic prostate cancer, i.e. docetaxel-based therapy, is only marginally effective. The aim of the present study was to determine whether such therapy can be improved by combining docetaxel with Aneustat (OMN54), a multivalent botanical drug candidate shown to have anti-prostate cancer activity in preliminary in vitro experiments, which is currently undergoing a Phase-I Clinical Trial. Human metastatic, androgen-independent C4-2 prostate cancer cells and NOD-SCID mice bearing PTEN-deficient, metastatic and PSA-secreting, patient-derived subrenal capsule LTL-313H prostate cancer tissue xenografts were treated with docetaxel and Aneustat, alone and in combination. In vitro, Aneustat markedly inhibited C4-2 cell replication in a dose-dependent manner. When Aneustat was combined with docetaxel, the growth inhibitions of the drugs were essentially additive. In vivo, however, the combination of docetaxel and Aneustat enhanced anti-tumor activity synergistically and very markedly, without inducing major host toxicity. Complete growth inhibition and shrinkage of the xenografts could be obtained with the combined drugs as distinct from the drugs on their own. Analysis of the gene expression of the xenografts using microarray indicated that docetaxel + Aneustat led to expanded anticancer activity, in particular to targeting of cancer hallmarks that were not affected by the single drugs. Our findings, obtained with a highly clinically relevant prostate cancer model, suggest, for the first time, that docetaxel-based therapy of advanced human prostate cancer may be improved by combining docetaxel with Aneustat