Team Cognitive Ability as a Predictor of Team Performance

This manuscript presents two studies of the relationship between team cognitive ability (average Scholastic Aptitude Test score of team members) and team performance (a subjective coach\u27s evaluation and an objective measure using Sagarin\u27s Power Rankings) among NCAA Division 1 Men\u27s Basketball teams. Study 1 was conducted following the 1991-92 season whereas Study 2 was conducted during the 1993-94 season. Both studies indicated that team cognitive ability was significantly related to the coach\u27s evaluation but not to the power ranking measure, and that team strategy moderated the relationship between cognitive ability and the coach\u27s evaluation of performance. Cognitive ability moderated the relationship between team strategy and power ranking, but the nature of the interaction was different across the two studies

Strategy, Core Competence and HR Involvement as Determinants of HR Effectiveness and Refinery Performance

This study examined the impact strategy, core competence, and involvement of HR executives in strategic decision making on the refinery managers\u27 evaluation of the effectiveness of HR and refinery performance among 86 U.S. petro-chemical refineries. Survey results indicated that higher involvement of HR in organizational strategy was strongly related to perceptions of HR effectiveness, and that the relationship was strongest to the extent that refineries pursued a product innovation strategy and viewed skilled employees as their core competence. HR involvement was unrelated to refinery performance, but was actually negatively related to the extent that refineries emphasized efficient production as their core competence

The Role of Human Resource Practices in Petro-Chemical Refinery Performance

This study examined the impact of Human Resource (HR) practices (selection, training, compensation, and appraisal) and participation on the financial performance of U.S. petrochemical refineries. Survey results from HR and Operations respondents indicated that appraisal and training were significantly related to workforce skills and that training and compensation were marginally related to workforce motivation. In addition, only training was significantly related to refinery performance, although the relationship was negative. However, selection, compensation, and appraisal interacted with participation in determining refinery financial performance such that each of these practices were strongly positively related to financial performance only under highly participative systems. Implications are discussed

Problems in the Preservation and Study of Archaeological Metals in East Texas

Dee Ann Story recently pointed out how little really is known about the archaeology of Texas Caddoan sites. Specifically, she notes how very few Caddoan sites have been systematically excavated and analyzed in Texas. There has been some substantial effort in this direction recently as witnessed by the renewed investigations at the Sam Kaufman (Roitsch) site by the Texas Archeological Society and the Texas Historical Commission. However, it seems evident to some of us that while investigations of the prehistoric Caddoan archaeological data base has been less than adequate, our understanding of historic Caddoan groups remains even less satisfactory. In fact, archaeologically it is not yet possible to specifically and reliably identify many eighteenth century Indian sites in Eastern Texas as being affiliated with Caddoan peoples. Nor can we identify these Caddo from the many, more or less itinerant, candidates from among other tribes who may have paused and settled within known Caddoan tribal boundaries in historic times