Leadership Behaviour and Upward Feedback: Findings from a Longitudinal Intervention

A sample of 48 managers and 308 staff members of a community health care organization took part in a study to investigate the influence of participating in an upward feedback program on leadership behaviour, both as indicated be self-ratings and subordinates’ ratings. The research design consisted of three measurement points within one year. The intervention included managers receiving upward feedback and a management skills workshop. The results showed a negative effect of the program on leadership behaviour as rated by the staff. Furthermore, managers reduced their self-ratings in the condition where they participated in both a feedback session and an management skills workshop.Management;Leadership Behaviour;Self-rating;Upward Feedback

Effects of upward feedback on leadership behaviour toward subordinates

Purpose - To investigate the influence of participating in an upward feedback program on leadership behaviour, both as indicated be self-ratings and subordinates' ratings. Design/methodology/approach - The research design consisted of two measurement points within six months. The program included managers receiving an upward feedback report and a short workshop to facilitate interpretation. A sample of 45 managers and 308 staff members of a community health care organization took part. Findings - The study showed three results. First, managers lack insight into the real impact of their behavior. Second, only a small positive effect was found of the upward feedback program on the leadership behaviour as rated by their staff in terms of valuing diversity. Third, the managers' self-ratings of Presenting feedback, Fairness and Integrity & respect decreased between Time 1 and Time 2. Originality/value - The study points towards the need for HRM professionals to carefully implement upward feedback programs in order to have a real impact on the development of managers

Leadership Behaviour and Upward Feedback: Findings from a Longitudinal Intervention

A sample of 48 managers and 308 staff members of a community health care organization took part in a study to investigate the influence of participating in an upward feedback program on leadership behaviour, both as indicated be self-ratings and subordinates’ ratings. The research design consisted of three measurement points within one year. The intervention included managers receiving upward feedback and a management skills workshop. The results showed a negative effect of the program on leadership behaviour as rated by the staff. Furthermore, managers reduced their self-ratings in the condition where they participated in both a feedback session and an management skills workshop

Power Spectrum Estimators For Large CMB Datasets

Forthcoming high-resolution observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation will generate datasets many orders of magnitude larger than have been obtained to date. The size and complexity of such datasets presents a very serious challenge to analysing them with existing or anticipated computers. Here we present an investigation of the currently favored algorithm for obtaining the power spectrum from a sky-temperature map --- the quadratic estimator. We show that, whilst improving on direct evaluation of the likelihood function, current implementations still inherently scale as the equivalent of the cube of the number of pixels or worse, and demonstrate the critical importance of choosing the right implementation for a particular dataset.Comment: 8 pages LATEX, no figures, corrected misaligned columns in table

On Random Bubble Lattices

We study random bubble lattices which can be produced by processes such as first order phase transitions, and derive characteristics that are important for understanding the percolation of distinct varieties of bubbles. The results are relevant to the formation of topological defects as they show that infinite domain walls and strings will be produced during appropriate first order transitions, and that the most suitable regular lattice to study defect formation in three dimensions is a face centered cubic lattice. Another application of our work is to the distribution of voids in the large-scale structure of the universe. We argue that the present universe is more akin to a system undergoing a first-order phase transition than to one that is crystallizing, as is implicit in the Voronoi foam description. Based on the picture of a bubbly universe, we predict a mean coordination number for the voids of 13.4. The mean coordination number may also be used as a tool to distinguish between different scenarios for structure formation.Comment: several modifications including new abstract, comparison with froth models, asymptotics of coordination number distribution, further discussion of biased defects, and relevance to large-scale structur

Breast cancer teams: the impact of constitution, new cancer workload, and methods of operation on their effectiveness

National guidance and clinical guidelines recommended multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) for cancer services in order to bring specialists in relevant disciplines together, ensure clinical decisions are fully informed, and to coordinate care effectively. However, the effectiveness of cancer teams was not previously evaluated systematically. A random sample of 72 breast cancer teams in England was studied (548 members in six core disciplines), stratified by region and caseload. Information about team constitution, processes, effectiveness, clinical performance, and members' mental well-being was gathered using appropriate instruments. Two input variables, team workload (P=0.009) and the proportion of breast care nurses (P=0.003), positively predicted overall clinical performance in multivariate analysis using a two-stage regression model. There were significant correlations between individual team inputs, team composition variables, and clinical performance. Some disciplines consistently perceived their team's effectiveness differently from the mean. Teams with shared leadership of their clinical decision-making were most effective. The mental well-being of team members appeared significantly better than in previous studies of cancer clinicians, the NHS, and the general population. This study established that team composition, working methods, and workloads are related to measures of effectiveness, including the quality of clinical care

Analytical modeling of large-angle CMBR anisotropies from textures

We propose an analytic method for predicting the large angle CMBR temperature fluctuations induced by model textures. The model makes use of only a small number of phenomenological parameters which ought to be measured from simple simulations. We derive semi-analytically the $C^l$-spectrum for $2\leq l\leq 30$ together with its associated non-Gaussian cosmic variance error bars. A slightly tilted spectrum with an extra suppression at low $l$ is found, and we investigate the dependence of the tilt on the parameters of the model. We also produce a prediction for the two point correlation function. We find a high level of cosmic confusion between texture scenarios and standard inflationary theories in any of these quantities. However, we discover that a distinctive non-Gaussian signal ought to be expected at low $l$, reflecting the prominent effect of the last texture in these multipoles

Determining Foreground Contamination in CMB Observations: Diffuse Galactic Emission in the MAXIMA-I Field

Observations of the CMB can be contaminated by diffuse foreground emission from sources such as Galactic dust and synchrotron radiation. In these cases, the morphology of the contaminating source is known from observations at different frequencies, but not its amplitude at the frequency of interest for the CMB. We develop a technique for accounting for the effects of such emission in this case, and for simultaneously estimating the foreground amplitude in the CMB observations. We apply the technique to CMB data from the MAXIMA-1 experiment, using maps of Galactic dust emission from combinations of IRAS and DIRBE observations, as well as compilations of Galactic synchrotron emission observations. The spectrum of the dust emission over the 150--450 GHz observed by MAXIMA is consistent with preferred models but the effect on CMB power spectrum observations is negligible.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Monor changes to match the published versio

Estimate of the Cosmological Bispectrum from the MAXIMA-1 Cosmic Microwave Background Map

We use the measurement of the cosmic microwave background taken during the MAXIMA-1 flight to estimate the bispectrum of cosmological perturbations. We propose an estimator for the bispectrum that is appropriate in the flat sky approximation, apply it to the MAXIMA-1 data and evaluate errors using bootstrap methods. We compare the estimated value with what would be expected if the sky signal were Gaussian and find that it is indeed consistent, with a $\chi^2$ per degree of freedom of approximately unity. This measurement places constraints on models of inflation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. New version to match paper accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. Non-diagonal terms included leading to new limits on f_N

Which doctors and with what problems contact a specialist service for doctors? A cross sectional investigation

Background: In the United Kingdom, specialist treatment and intervention services for doctors are underdeveloped. The MedNet programme, created in 1997 and funded by the London Deanery, aims to fill this gap by providing a self-referral, face-to-face, psychotherapeutic assessment service for doctors in London and South-East England. MedNet was designed to be a low-threshold service, targeting doctors without formal psychiatric problems. The aim of this study was to delineate the characteristics of doctors utilising the service, to describe their psychological morbidity, and to determine if early intervention is achieved. Methods: A cross-sectional study including all consecutive self-referred doctors (n = 121, 50% male) presenting in 2002–2004 was conducted. Measures included standardised and bespoke questionnaires both self-report and clinician completed. The multi-dimensional evaluation included: demographics, CORE (CORE-OM, CORE-Workplace and CORE-A) an instrument designed to evaluate the psychological difficulties of patients referred to outpatient services, Brief Symptom Inventory to quantify caseness and formal psychiatric illness, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results: The most prevalent presenting problems included depression, anxiety, interpersonal, self-esteem and work-related issues. However, only 9% of the cohort were identified as severely distressed psychiatrically using this measure. In approximately 50% of the sample, problems first presented in the preceding year. About 25% were on sick leave at the time of consultation, while 50% took little or no leave in the prior 12 months. A total of 42% were considered to be at some risk of suicide, with more than 25% considered to have a moderate to severe risk. There were no significant gender differences in type of morbidity, severity or days off sick. Conclusion: Doctors displayed high levels of distress as reflected in the significant proportion of those who were at some risk of suicide; however, low rates of severe psychiatric illness were detected. These findings suggest that MedNet clients represent both ends of the spectrum of severity, enabling early clinical engagement for a significant proportion of cases that is of importance both in terms of personal health and protecting patient care, and providing a timely intervention for those who are at risk, a group for whom rapid intervention services are in need and an area that requires further investigation in the UK