Exploring the remuneration ‘black box’: establishing an organizational learning insight into changing remuneration committee ‘social worlds’

Current executive compensation research posits a need to extend analysis beyond principalagent theory in order to explore the complex social influences and processes implicated in Remuneration Committee (RemCo) decision-making (e.g. Bender, 2007; Kakabadse et al, 2006; Main et al., 2007), particularly given the current uproar surrounding reported levels and structuring of executive remuneration. We respond to this international need by highlighting how innovative organizational learning theorizing can be integrated into further investigations of the remuneration ‘Black Box’, in order to focus attention upon the nuances of what and how organizational learning takes place in the remuneration process. Additionally, we note the importance of investigating the main actors and particularly their performance of complex roles within their rapidly evolving ‘social worlds’. By exploring the organizational learning phenomena implicated in executive remuneration, we argue that practitioners, regulatory bodies etc. can appreciate further the implications of their respective decision-making

Network Constrained Wind Integration: An Optimal Cost Approach

Planning electricity supply is important because power demand continues to increase while there is a concomitant desire to increase reliance on renewable sources. Extant research pays particular attention to highly variable, low-carbon energy sources such as wind and small-scale hydroelectric power. Models generally employ only a simple load levelling technique, ensuring that generation meets demand in every period. The current research considers the power transmission system as well as load levelling. A network model is developed to simulate the integration of highly variable non-dispatchable power into an electrical grid that relies on traditional generation sources, while remaining within the network’s operating constraints. The model minimizes a quadratic cost function over two periods of 336 hours, with periods representing low (summer) and high (winter) demand, subject to various linear constraints. The model is numerically solved using Matlab and GAMS software environments. Results indicate that, even for a grid heavily dependent on hydroelectricity, the addition of wind power can create difficulties, with system costs increasing with wind penetration, sometimes significantly.Electric networks, optimal power flow, wind power, intermittent sources

Wind Integration into Various Generation Mixtures

A load balance model is used to quantify the economic and environmental effects of integrating wind power into three typical generation mixtures. System operating costs over a specified period are minimized by controlling the operating schedule of existing power generating facilities for a range of wind penetrations. Unlike other studies, variable generator efficiencies, and thus variable fuel costs, are taken into account, as are the ramping constraints on thermal generators. Results indicate that system operating cost will increase by 15% to 110% (pending generation mixture) at a wind penetration of 100% of peak demand. Results also show that some mixtures will exhibit cost reductions on the order of 13% for moderate wind penetrations and high wind farm capacity factors. System emissions also decrease by 13% to 32% (depending on generation mixture) at a wind penetration of 100%. This leads to emission abatement costs in the range of $65 per tonne-CO2e for coal dominated mixtures, but$450 per tonne-CO2e for hydro dominated mixtures. For natural gas dominated mixtures, the introduction of wind power may well be beneficial overall.Wind power integration, generation mixtures, emissions cost

Social media and campaigning: the challenges and opportunities of incorporating social media into existing anti-airport expansion campaigns

Social media has created new protest spaces and has enabled people to do things differently. The focus of the research is on campaign groups, created before social media was used as a tool for protest. It has been undertaken to achieve the aim of the challenges and opportunities of incorporating new forms of social media into existing protest campaigns through a case study of anti-airport expansion groups in the UK. Social media data was obtained from three anti-airport expansion groups which included the extraction of approximately 9,000 tweets and 8,000 Facebook posts. The data were then analysed using social network analysis, time series analysis and semi-structured interviews. The results of social network analysis and time series analysis informed the development of the questions directed at the social media coordinators of each group. The main findings are that Airport Watch and HACAN Clearskies exhibit very similar Twitter networks and favour interaction with the media, similar anti-airport expansion groups and also pro-airport expansion groups. Transition Heathrow demonstrates more varied interaction patterns. All groups dominate their respective Facebook page and group networks apart from HACAN Clearskies which has non-assigned leaders controlling information dissemination in the group. Time series analysis uncovered variations in social media usage; overall for all three campaign groups Twitter was utilised more than Facebook. [Continues.

Navigating towards hyperautomation and the empowerment of human capital in family businesses: a perspective article

This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact [email protected] paper aims to explore the past and future impacts of automation on family businesses, with a focus on the opportunities for human capital empowerment. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws upon a contemporary literature search to examine a range of scholarly and practitioner perspectives of the challenges and benefits of automation, exploring the evolvement towards hyperautomation and the empowerment of human capital in family businesses. Findings Automation, transforming to hyperautomation, general purpose artificial intelligence (AI) and beyond has the possibility of radically improving productivity. Fear of job obsolescence has been present since the birth of modern automation, and whilst some jobs are at risk of redundancy, a net gain towards higher-skilled labour is already evident. Family business leaders must be prepared to react appropriately to the accelerating war for talent by implementing a strategy for human capital empowerment. Originality/value This unique paper synthesises developments in automation and proposes a future perspective centred upon the empowerment of human capital in family businesses

Separation of Parallel Encoded Complex-Valued Slices (SPECS) From A Single Complex-Valued Aliased Coil Image

Purpose Achieving a reduction in scan time with minimal inter-slice signal leakage is one of the significant obstacles in parallel MR imaging. In fMRI, multiband-imaging techniques accelerate data acquisition by simultaneously magnetizing the spatial frequency spectrum of multiple slices. The SPECS model eliminates the consequential inter-slice signal leakage from the slice unaliasing, while maintaining an optimal reduction in scan time and activation statistics in fMRI studies. Materials and Methods When the combined k-space array is inverse Fourier reconstructed, the resulting aliased image is separated into the un-aliased slices through a least squares estimator. Without the additional spatial information from a phased array of receiver coils, slice separation in SPECS is accomplished with acquired aliased images in shifted FOV aliasing pattern, and a bootstrapping approach of incorporating reference calibration images in an orthogonal Hadamard pattern. Result The aliased slices are effectively separated with minimal expense to the spatial and temporal resolution. Functional activation is observed in the motor cortex, as the number of aliased slices is increased, in a bilateral finger tapping fMRI experiment. Conclusion The SPECS model incorporates calibration reference images together with coefficients of orthogonal polynomials into an un-aliasing estimator to achieve separated images, with virtually no residual artifacts and functional activation detection in separated images

Is treadmill walking with virtual reality an acceptable and plausible training modality for stroke survivors?

Introduction and Objectives: For many stroke survivors recovering independent walking is an important objective, however, although most survivors recover some walking ability it is often insufficient to meet the challenges of community walking[1]. Treadmill walking, through forced use of the paretic side, has some evidence as an intervention but lacks transfer to community walking[2]. With the rationale of providing a more realistic, variable walking experience, the addition of virtual reality (VR) to treadmills is a recent, promising, development. This aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate the credibility and acceptability of treadmill training with VR among stroke survivors. Methods: This was a feasibility study testing the validity of treadmill training with and without VR through comparison with overground walking. User acceptability was assessed through independent interviews. Six ambulant stroke survivors (aged 56.5±10.6years, 116±93.3months post stroke) were recruited from local stroke clubs. They attended an introductory session for baseline measurements (over ground gait biomechanics, functional mobility and cognition) and familiarisation with the treadmill VR system (MOTEKMedical, Netherlands) including wearing a harness. They then participated in two training sessions, one week apart, each session included treadmill walking without VR (TW) and treadmill walking with VR (TWVR) e.g. road and forest paths visualisations. The final session included a second measurement of gait biomechanics which provided the data for statistical comparison. Each individual was independently interviewed before and after their participation. Results: In general minor, non-significant, differences were observed for TM, TMVR and overground walking. There was, however, a consistent, and statistically significant (p= 0.032) finding of greater hip flexion for TWVR, see table for details. Universally, participants found the experience acceptable and enjoyable, although “challenging”. Conclusion: This feasibility study found treadmill walking (with and without VR) to be similar enough to overground walking to justify it as a training modality for chronic stroke survivors who had already attained some independence in walking. One possible difference, greater hip flexion during treadmill walking, may be a product of harness wearing, and/or relate to the setup of the visualisations. Participants found the experience of treadmill walking acceptable. Although they preferred walking with the visualisations there were few biomechanical differences to simple treadmill walking. Further exploration of individual variability, however, should be undertaken as this may be a factor in ranslating gains from treadmill training to community walking. In conclusion, similarities between overground and treadmill walking (with and without VR) support its use as a training modality in stroke rehabilitation. No great advantage was evident from the use of visualisation other than participant’s preference, however these findings require further testing

How Self-Esteem Affects Eye Fixation When Viewing Images of Strangers Compared to Images of Self

Self-esteem has been shown to play a role in overall health. A previous study explained that humans are self-motivated to protect and enhance self-esteem and when self-esteem is enhanced, psychological wellbeing shows improvements. With that, another study evaluated depression and facial fixation and found that those who had depression looked at the mouth region more so than the eye region. By keeping prior research in mind, we aimed to evaluate how self-esteem plays a role in how one views themselves compared to a stranger. Thus, we hypothesized that those who exhibit lower self-esteem will demonstrate fixations on the mouth more so than the eyes. We also expect that those who show lower self-esteem will have more specific fixation on their own face, compared to the faces of others. This study is a within-group experimental design with the independent variable being a photo of each participant placed into a mix of other faces pulled from the Chicago Face Database. This allowed us to compare the visual attention on strangers compared to their own face by drawing areas of interest on specific facial features such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. Our participants were Belmont students aged 18 years or older and excluded anyone who depend on glasses to see