Drawing on the knowledge of returned expatriates for organizational learning: Case studies in German multinational companies

In order to explore the potential contributions that returned expatriates can make towards helping their organizations to better understand and manage culturally diverse and changing conditions, a pilot study was conducted in two German-based companies with a long tradition of international operations. The interviews generated insights not only into the four categories of knowledge used in the organizational learning literature (declarative, procedural, conditional, and axiomatic) but also into a fifth (relational). The analysis indicates that a large gap remains between individual and organizational learning. The barriers encountered by the expatriates in transforming their knowledge into an organizational property lie more in the absence of supportive factors and conditions than in the actual presence of impediments. The authors suggest that many of the problems encountered by returned expatriates are not limited to this specific subgroup but rather serve to highlight those experienced by other employees who seek to introduce new ideas and practices into an organization. The study therefore concludes not only with recommendations for improving expatriation processes, but also with suggestions for identifying the learning needs of an organization and for creating a supportive framework for organizational learning from all employees. -- International tätige Unternehmen investieren viel in die Entsendung von Führungskräften ins Ausland. Was und wie können Unternehmen von diesen Führungskräften nach ihrer Rückkehr lernen? Um dieser Frage nachzugehen, wurde eine Pilotstudie in zwei deutschen Unternehmen durchgeführt, die beide seit vielen Jahren international tätig sind. Die Interviews mit zurückgekehrten Expatriates und mit Personalmanagern dokumentieren eine Vielfalt von Wissen. Sie zeigen aber auch, daß die vier in der Literatur zu Organisationslernen zentralen Kategorien von Wissen (declarative, procedural, conditional und axiomatic) in der Literatur zum Organisationslernen nicht ausreichen, um diese Vielfalt zu erfassen. Eine fünfte Kategorie muß ergänzend hinzugefügt werden: relational knowledge. Die Untersuchung zeigt, daß zwischen dem vielfältigen individuellen Wissen und dem Wissen der Organisation eine große Lücke bleibt. Bei der Transformation ihres Individualwissens in organisatorisches Eigentum erleben die Expatriates wenig Unterstützung. Viele der von den Expatriates angesprochenen Probleme bei der Umsetzung von Wissen können als organisationstypisch angesehen werden. Die Autoren erarbeiten daher nicht nur Empfehlungen für eine auf Organisationslernen besser abgestimmte Gestaltung der Entsendungspolitik, sondern auch Vorschläge für die Feststellung der Lernbedürfnisse der jeweiligen Organisation sowie für die Schaffung eines lernfreundlichen Rahmens.

Comparaison entre deux stratégies transfusionnelles en postopératoire de chirurgie cardiaque pédiatrique

L’anémie est fréquente chez les patients pédiatriques en postopératoire de chirurgie cardiaque. Malgré le nombre important de patients transfusés, le taux d’hémoglobine (Hb) pour lequel les bénéfices surpassent les risques est inconnu chez ces patients. Récemment, Lacroix et al. ont démontré qu’une stratégie transfusionnelle restrictive n’était pas inférieure à une stratégie libérale en ce qui concerne le développement ou la progression du syndrome de défaillance multiviscérale (SDMV) et la mortalité chez les patients de soins intensifs pédiatriques (SIP).Devant le manque d’évidence, une analyse de sous-groupes des patients en postopératoire de chirurgie cardiaque de l’étude Transfusion Requirements in Pediatric Intensive Care (TRIPICU) a été réalisée. L’objectif de cette étude était de déterminer l’impact d’une stratégie transfusionnelle restrictive comparée à une stratégie libérale sur l’acquisition ou l’aggravation du syndrome de défaillance multiviscérale (SDMV) chez les enfants en postopératoire de chirurgie cardiaque. Cette étude n’a pas démontré de différences statistiquement, ni cliniquement significatives du nombre de patients ayant acquis ou aggravés un SDMV, ni des issues secondaires entre les stratégies transfusionnelles restrictive et libérale. L’analyse de sous-groupes permet de générer une hypothèse de recherche et les résultats devraient être confirmés par un essai randomisé contrôlé.Anemia is frequent in pediatric patients following cardiac surgery. Despite frequent transfusions, the optimal hemoglobin threshold where benefits surpass risks is still unknown for these patients. Recently, Lacroix et al. showed that a restrictive transfusion strategy was not inferior to a liberal strategy concerning the development or progression of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and mortality in pediatric intensive care patients. In the absence of evidence, the aim of this study was to determine the impact of a restrictive versus a liberal transfusion strategy on new or progressive multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in children following cardiac surgery. We conducted a subgroup analysis of the postoperative cardiac surgery patients of the Transfusion Requirements in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (TRIPICU) study. Our study showed no statistically and clinically significant differences in the number of patients who acquired or worsened MODS, nor secondary outcomes between a restrictive and a liberal transfusion strategy. This subgroup analysis generates a research hypothesis that should be confirmed by a randomized controlled trial

Drawing on the knowledge of returned expatriates for organizational learning: case studies in German multinational companies

"In order to explore the potential contributions that returned expatriates can make towards helping their organizations to better understand and manage culturally diverse and changing conditions, a pilot study was conducted in two German-based companies with a long tradition of international operations. The interviews generated insights not only into the four categories of knowledge used in the organizational learning literature (declarative, procedural, conditional, and axiomatic) but also into a fifth (relational). The analysis indicates that a large gap remains between individual and organizational learning. The barriers encountered by the expatriates in transforming their knowledge into an organizational property lie more in the absence of supportive factors and conditions than in the actual presence of impediments. The authors suggest that many of the problems encountered by returned expatriates are not limited to this specific subgroup but rather serve to highlight those experienced by other employees who seek to introduce new ideas and practices into an organization. The study therefore concludes not only with recommendations for improving expatriation processes, but also with suggestions for identifying the learning needs of an organization and for creating a supportive framework for organizational learning from all employees." (author's abstract)"International tätige Unternehmen investieren viel in die Entsendung von Führungskräften ins Ausland. Was und wie können Unternehmen von diesen Führungskräften nach ihrer Rückkehr lernen? Um dieser Frage nachzugehen, wurde eine Pilotstudie in zwei deutschen Unternehmen durchgeführt, die beide seit vielen Jahren international tätig sind. Die Interviews mit zurückgekehrten Expatriates und mit Personalmanagern dokumentieren eine Vielfalt von Wissen. Sie zeigen aber auch, daß die vier in der Literatur zu Organisationslernen zentralen Kategorien von Wissen (declarative, procedural, conditional und axiomatic) in der Literatur zum Organisationslernen nicht ausreichen, um diese Vielfalt zu erfassen. Eine fünfte Kategorie muß ergänzend hinzugefügt werden: relational knowledge. Die Untersuchung zeigt, daß zwischen dem vielfältigen individuellen Wissen und dem Wissen der Organisation eine große Lücke bleibt. Bei der Transformation ihres Individualwissens in organisatorisches Eigentum erleben die Expatriates wenig Unterstützung. Viele der von den Expatriates angesprochenen Probleme bei der Umsetzung von Wissen können als organisationstypisch angesehen werden. Die Autoren erarbeiten daher nicht nur Empfehlungen für eine auf Organisationslernen besser abgestimme Gestaltung der Entsendungspolitik, sondern auch Vorschläge für die Feststellung der Lernbedürfnisse der jeweiligen Organisation sowie für die Schaffung eines lernfreundlichen Rahmens." (Autorenreferat

Predict postoperative bleeding after cardiopulmonary bypass in children

Background: Systemic coagulation disorders after cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) represent serious postoperative complications. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between postoperative hemorrhage and coagulation parameters determined by global coagulation assays, to define predictive markers. Methods: Thirty-four pediatrics were enrolled for the admitted patients to the University Children’s Hospital from Brussels for cardiac surgery with CPB. Blood samples were collected ten minutes after protamine administration. Laboratory investigations included platelet count, fibrinogen level and classical coagulation tests (prothrombin time (PT) with International Normalized Ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplatin time (a PTT)). The duration of cardiopulmonary bypass and the minimal temperature were recorded. Chest tube drainage was monitored for 24 h after operations as an index of postoperative hemorrhage (> 10 ml/kg). Results: Demographic data differed between the hemorrhagic and non hemorrhagic group. In this study the incidence of bleeding was 64.7%, and it was higher in younger children with lower body weight. No baseline coagulation test was found by correlation coefficient to be predictive or, to correlate with postoperative chest tube drainage (PT (INR), p=0.48; a PTT, p=1.00). After the protamine administration to patients, platelet count (p=1.00) and fibrinogen level (p=0.278) did not correlate with eventual chest tube drainage. Our investigation determined the duration of CPB (r (Pearson) = 0.53; p=0.0008) and the minimal temperature while CPB (r (Spearman) = -0.39; p=0.002) to be predictive for 24-hour chest tube drainage after CPB in children. Conclusions: By using regression analysis, we found duration and minimal temperature of CPB to be predictors of post-CPB chest tube drainage in children. No baseline coagulation test was found to be predictive with postoperative bleeding. Postprotamine platelet count and fibrinogen level were observed to not correlate with chest tube drainage

Do students\u27 individual motivational profiles explain differences in their feedback perception in upper secondary German language classes?

Feedback ist ein zentraler Prädiktor für die Lernentwicklung von Schülerinnen und Schülern. Allerdings zeigen empirische Studien, dass die Wirksamkeit von Feedback sowohl von der subjektiven Wahrnehmung des Feedbacks durch die Lernenden als auch von ihren individuellen Lernausgangslagen abhängt. Mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung gehen wir der Frage nach, wie Schülerinnen und Schüler im Deutschunterricht der gymnasialen Oberstufe Feedback, das sie im Unterricht von ihrer Lehrkraft erhalten, wahrnehmen und inwieweit Unterschiede in der Feedbackwahrnehmung durch die Ausprägung der Lernmotivation erklärt werden können. Es werden Daten der Studie Feedback im Kontext von Heterogenität (FeeHe) genutzt, in der 807 Schülerinnen und Schüler der gymnasialen Oberstufe zu zwei Messzeitpunkten zu ihrer Wahrnehmung von unterschiedlichen Feedbackdimensionen (ergebnis-, prozess-, selbstregulations- und dialogorientiert) und zu ihrer Lernmotivation befragt wurden. Basierend auf latenten Profilanalysen werden zunächst individuelle motivationale Schülerprofile bestimmt, die anschließend als Prädiktoren zur Vorhersage der Feedbackwahrnehmung genutzt werden. Die Befunde zeigen drei charakteristische Schülerprofile: (a) Lernende mit einem hohen Niveau fremdbestimmter und gleichzeitig geringem Niveau selbstbestimmter Motivation, (b) Lernende mit einem hohen Niveau fremdbestimmter und gleichzeitig hohem Niveau selbstbestimmter Motivation sowie (c) Lernende mit einem hohen Niveau fremdbestimmter und gleichzeitig mittlerem Niveau selbstbestimmter Motivation. Erwartungskonform zeigt sich, dass die subjektive Feedbackwahrnehmung der Schülerinnen und Schüler systematisch in Abhängigkeit ihrer Motivationsprofile variiert. (DIPF/Orig.)Feedback is considered a key factor of students’ effective learning. However, current empirical studies show that the effectiveness of feedback systematically depends on both the students’ individual perception of feedback and their individual learning characteristics. The present study investigates how students in German language classes in upper secondary schools perceive the feedback they receive from their teachers during class and to what extent differences in the perception of feedback can be explained by the students’ learning motivation. Our analyses are based on data from the FeeHe study (Feedback im Kontext von Heterogenität), in which 807 senior high school students were surveyed at two measurement points. We assessed different dimensions of feedback (task, process, self-regulation, and discourse dimension) and different qualities of the students’ learning motivation. Using latent profile analyses, we first identified characteristic individual motivational profiles, which were then used as predictors of the students’ perception of feedback. Our findings reveal three characteristic motivational profiles: (a) students with high levels of controlled forms of motivation and at the same time low levels of autonomous motivation, (b) students with high levels of both controlled and autonomous motivation simultaneously, and (c) students with high levels of controlled forms of motivation and at the same time moderate levels of autonomous forms of motivation. The results further affirm our expectation that students’ perception of feedback varies systematically depending on their motivational profiles. (DIPF/Orig.

Contribution of recent transgenic models and transcriptional profiling studies to our understanding of the mechanisms by which androgens control spermatogenesis

Publisher PD

Mit Seamless Learning den Brüchen zwischen Studium und beruflicher Praxis begegnen. Ein Flipped-Classroom-Beispiel aus der Lehrerbildung

Seamless Learning kann ergänzt um die Perspektive des Lebenslangen Lernens eine Bereicherung in der Gestaltung der universitären Lehre sein. In diesem Beitrag wird anhand eines Lehrentwicklungsprojektes, in dem ein Flipped Classroom als didaktisches Design gewählt wurde, vorgestellt, inwiefern ein solcher Ansatz dazu beitragen kann, mögliche Brüche zwischen dem Studium und der späteren beruflichen Praxis von (angehenden) Lehrkräften zu adressieren und zu verringern. (DIPF/Orig.

Selective Ablation of the Androgen Receptor in Mouse Sertoli Cells Affects Sertoli Cell Maturation, Barrier Formation and Cytoskeletal Development

The observation that mice with a selective ablation of the androgen receptor (AR) in Sertoli cells (SC) (SCARKO mice) display a complete block in meiosis supports the contention that SC play a pivotal role in the control of germ cell development by androgens. To delineate the physiological and molecular mechanism responsible for this control, we compared tubular development in pubertal SCARKO mice and littermate controls. Particular attention was paid to differences in SC maturation, SC barrier formation and cytoskeletal organization and to the molecular mediators potentially involved. Functional analysis of SC barrier development by hypertonic perfusion and lanthanum permeation techniques and immunohistochemical analysis of junction formation showed that SCARKO mice still attempt to produce a barrier separating basal and adluminal compartment but that barrier formation is delayed and defective. Defective barrier formation was accompanied by disturbances in SC nuclear maturation (immature shape, absence of prominent, tripartite nucleoli) and SC polarization (aberrant positioning of SC nuclei and cytoskeletal elements such as vimentin). Quantitative RT-PCR was used to study the transcript levels of genes potentially related to the described phenomena between day 8 and 35. Differences in the expression of SC genes known to play a role in junction formation could be shown from day 8 for Cldn11, from day 15 for Cldn3 and Espn, from day 20 for Cdh2 and Jam3 and from day 35 for ZO-1. Marked differences were also noted in the transcript levels of several genes that are also related to cell adhesion and cytoskeletal dynamics but that have not yet been studied in SC (Actn3, Ank3, Anxa9, Scin, Emb, Mpzl2). It is concluded that absence of a functional AR in SC impedes the remodeling of testicular tubules expected at the onset of spermatogenesis and interferes with the creation of the specific environment needed for germ cell development

Creating the BELgian COngenital heart disease database combining administrative and clinical data (BELCODAC) : rationale, design and methodology

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) entails a broad spectrum of malformations with various degrees of severity and prognosis. Consequently, new and specific healthcare needs are emerging, requiring responsive healthcare provision. Research on this matter is predominantly performed on population-based databases, to inform clinicians, researchers and policy-makers on health outcomes and economic burden of CHD. Most databases contain data either from administrative sources or from clinical systems. We describe the methodological design of the BELgian COngenital Heart Disease Database combining Administrative and Clinical data (BELCODAC), to investigate patients with CHD. Methods: Data on clinical characteristics from three university hospitals in Belgium (Leuven, Ghent and Brussels) were merged with mortality and socio-economic data from the official Belgian statistical office (StatBel), and with healthcare use data from the InterMutualistic Agency, an overarching national organization that collects data from the seven sickness funds for all Belgian citizens. Over 60 variables with multiple entries over time are included in the database. Results: BELCODAC contains data on 18,510 patients, of which 8926 patients (48%) have a mild, 7490 (41%) a moderately complex and 2094 (11%) a complex anatomical heart defect. The most prevalent diagnosis is Ventricular Septal Defect in 3879 patients (21%), followed by Atrial Septal Defect in 2565 patients (14%). Conclusions: BELCODAC comprises longitudinal data on patients with CHD in Belgium. This will help build evidence-based provision of care to the changing CHD population

Efficacy and safety of 6% hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 (Voluven) for perioperative volume replacement in children undergoing cardiac surgery: a propensity-matched analysis

Introduction: Six percent hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 130/0.4 is considered an alternative to human albumin (HA) and crystalloids for volume replacement in children undergoing cardiac surgery. In this large propensity-matched analysis, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of replacing HA with HES for intraoperative volume therapy in children undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our database, including children who underwent cardiac surgery between January 2002 and December 2010. Four percent HA was used until 2005; it was replaced by HES thereafter. Demographic data, intra- and postoperative blood loss and blood component transfusions were recorded, together with the incidence of postoperative complications and mortality. We performed a propensity-matched analysis using 13 possible confounding factors to compare children who received either HES or HA intraoperatively. The primary objectives included the effects of both fluids on intraoperative fluid balance (difference between fluids in and fluids out (efficacy)) and blood loss and exposure to allogeneic blood products (safety). Secondary safety outcomes were mortality and the incidence of postoperative renal dysfunction. Results: Of 1,832 children reviewed, 1,495 were included in the analysis. Intraoperative use of HES was associated with a less positive fluid balance. Perioperative blood loss, volume of red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma administered, as well as the number of children who received transfusions, were also significantly lower in the HES group. No difference was observed regarding the incidence of postoperative renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy or of morbidity and mortality. Conclusions: These results confirm that the use of HES for volume replacement in children during cardiac surgery with CPB is as safe as HA. In addition, its use might be associated with less fluid accumulation. Further large studies are needed to assess whether the reduction in fluid accumulation could have a significant impact on postoperative morbidity and mortality