High zenith angle observations of PKS 2155-304 with the MAGIC telescope

The high frequency peaked BL Lac PKS 2155-304 with a redshift z=0.116 was discovered 1997 in the VHE range by the University of Durham Mark 6 gamma-ray telescope in Australia with a flux corresponding to approx. 0.2 times the Crab Nebula flux. It was later observed and detected with high significance by the Southern observatories CANGAROO and H.E.S.S. establishing this source as the best studied Southern TeV blazar. Detection from the Northern hemisphere was very difficult due to challenging observation conditions under large zenith angles. In July 2006, the H.E.S.S. collaboration reported an extraordinary outburst of VHE gamma-emission. During the outburst, the VHE gamma-ray emission was found to be variable on the time scales of minutes and at a mean flux of approx. 7 times the flux observed from the Crab Nebula. The MAGIC collaboration operates a 17m imaging air Cherenkov Telescope at La Palma (Northern Hemisphere). Follow up observations of the extraordinary outburst have been triggered in a Target of Opportunity program by an alert from the H.E.S.S. collaboration. The measured spectrum and light curve are presented.Comment: Contribution to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200

Research and Applications of the Processes of Performance Appraisal: A Bibliography of Recent Literature, 1981-1989

[Excerpt] There have been several recent reviews of different subtopics within the general performance appraisal literature. The reader of these reviews will find, however, that the accompanying citations may be of limited utility for one or more reasons. For example, the reference sections of these reviews are usually composed of citations which support a specific theory or practical approach to the evaluation of human performance. Consequently, the citation lists for these reviews are, as they must be, highly selective and do not include works that may have only a peripheral relationship to a given reviewer\u27s target concerns. Another problem is that the citations are out of date. That is, review articles frequently contain many citations that are fifteen or more years old. The generation of new studies and knowledge in this field occurs very rapidly. This creates a need for additional reference information solely devoted to identifying the wealth of new research, ideas, and writing that is changing the field

Cognitive Ability and Career Attainment: The Moderating Effects of Early Career Success

Three explanations regarding the prediction that early career success will moderate the relationship between cognitive ability and career attainment are presented along with an empirical examination of this issue. Using longitudinal data provided for 156 managerial, professional, and technical employees, significant moderating effects for an age-graded index of early career success were observed. The relationships between two measures of cognitive ability and later career job level were stronger for individuals identified as below average with respect to early career success than for their above average counterparts. These results agree with the proposition that the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and information is particularly dependent upon cognitive ability for inhviduals competing without the advantages associated with early career signals of high potential

Political Influence Behavior and Career Success

In a recent review of the literature on politics and influence behavior in personnel/human resource management, Ferris and Judge (1991) noted that no studies had directly investigated the relationship between influence behavior and overall career success. In the present study the effect of political influence behavior on career success was investigated. Drawing from past research on influence behavior and relevant theory from social psychology, the effect of political influence behavior on career success was hypothesized to depend on the type of influence tactic employed. Support was found for the effect of political influence behavior in predicting career success, and for the differential effectiveness of influence behaviors. Implications of the results for the study of careers and career management processes are discussed

Reframing Turnover/Personality Research in the Context of the Attraction-Selection-Attrition Hypothesis

This paper re-examines data originally reported by Cowan & Dreher (1983) in their examination of personality correlates of turnover among managerial, professional, and technical employees. It is intended to reframe the relationship between personality and turnover in light of recent attention on the attraction-selection-attrition hypothesis and to make the results of the original study more accessable to those studying these issues. Results show no relationship between homogeneity based on personality dimensions measured by the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (GZTS) and attrition from the organization. Therefore, no support can be offered for the homogeneity hypothesis. Based on these and other failures to find significant relationships between personality dimensions and homogeneity, we suggest that future research about the causes and effects of homogeneity should be based on research that delineates the domain of organizational fit

The Effects of Work Values on Job Choice Decisions

Work values have been receiving increased research attention. Ravlin, Meglino, and associates have recently conceptualized, and provided measurement of, work values. The effects of work values on job satisfaction, commitment, and individual decision making has been studied to date. However, work values have not been explicitly linked to job choice decisions. Using a sample of professional degree students and a policy capturing design, the influence of work values on job choice was examined in the context of job attributes that have previously been shown to affect this decision process. Work values were found to exhibit significant effects on job choice decisions. Further, individuals were more likely to choose jobs whose value content was similar to their own value orientation. Implications of the results for the study of work values and job choice are discussed

Reports on an Alternative Measure of Affective Disposition

Researchers investigating the dispositional source of job satisfaction have often used negative or positive affectivity as the measure of affective disposition. The present study tested the validity of an alternative measure of affective disposition which consists of an assessment of affective reactions to neutral stimuli common to everyday life. Results indicated that the measure, termed the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ), displayed favorable psychometric properties. Furthermore, the NOSQ may be a better assessment of affective disposition than positive or negative affectivity because it had greater stability over time than one of the most common measures of positive and negative affectivity

Comparing Traditional and Integrative Learning Methods in Organizational Training Programs

Previous research and anecdotal reports have suggested that when certain teaching approaches are utilized, students not only learn more, but also experience greater satisfaction with the training process. This study examined the effects of Integrative Learning-based (IL) training relative to lecture-based training. Employees enrolled in a three-day Manufacturing Resource Planning training course were randomly assigned to either IL or traditional training. Subjects reacted more favorably to IL-based training. Trained subjects performed significantly better than those in a no-treatment control group but no differences were noted between training interventions

Perceived Equity, Motivation and Final Offer Arbitration in Major League Baseball

Final offer salary arbitration in major league baseball offers a unique institutional arrangement that creates a naturally occurring non-equivalent groups repeated measure research design. The structural arrangements allow for examination of anticipatory expectancy effects and for assessment of behavioral responses consistent with equity theory predictions. Additionally, equity theory can be tested without the methodological problems inherent in defining the referent other. Performance and mobility were examined for major league baseball position players who won and lost their arbitration hearings. Pre-arbitration performance was found to significantly predict arbitration outcome. Despite similar patterns of post-arbitration performance between winners and losers, a significant relationship was noted between losing arbitration and postarbitration performance declines. Analyses also suggested that losers were also significantly more likely to change teams and leave major league baseball. The causality of the relationship between performance and arbitration outcome is discussed along with expectancy and equity effects as they relate to performance and mobility following the arbitration intervention

Employee Compensation and Advanced Manufacturing Technology

[Excerpt] The globalization of product markets has intensified competition in an increasingly wide array of industries, including automobiles, consumer electronics,steel, and computer chips to name just a few. In manufacturing as a whole during the last thirty years, productivity growth in the U.S. has lagged significantly behind that of Japan, Germany, Sweden, and many other industrialized countries. For example, between 1960 and 1985, the annual growth in manufacturing productivity (output per hour) was 2.7 percent in the U.S. compared with 8.0 percent in Japan. Unless this trend can be turned around, U.S. companies will find it increasingly difficult to compete in the world market