Exploring standardisation and knowledge networking processes in transnational human resource management.

Purpose – It is argued that a key step in becoming a “transnational” company is to implement transnational HRM (THRM). However, what is meant by THRM and how can it be assessed? The purpose of this paper is to develop the characteristics of THRM along two dimensions: standardisation and knowledge networking, in contrast to many existing studies which focus on IHRM strategies and structures. Standardisation and knowledge networking are to be examined at both the meta and operational levels. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on two case studies of major German MNCs, both with significant operations in Spain and the UK. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with senior managers, HR managers and labour representatives. Findings – The findings show that THRM can be operationalised using knowledge networking and standardisation on a meta level, in terms of principles, and at an operational level in terms of practices. The two firms show differences in the process and intensity of HR knowledge networking which have implications for the level of standardisation, local autonomy and innovation capabilities. The findings also suggests that THRM is more about processes than outcomes. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of this study is that the cases were only drawn from Western Europe. The patterns of THRM structures and processes may differ significantly in MNCs from other regions. Originality/value – This paper extends existing research by exploring international HR beyond strategies and structures and focuses on communication and coordination processes. It advocates a refined view of the transnational firm

Green human resource management: a comparative qualitative case study of a United States multinational corporation

This article explores the ways in which a multinational company (MNC) approaches Green Human Resource Management (HRM) in its British, German and Swedish subsidiaries. The authors analyze the similarities and differences in Green HRM approaches in these three European subsidiaries of a US restaurant chain. This enables the comparison of Green HRM practises and behaviors, and considers the factors that influence the subsidiaries in this particular domain. Therefore, this research addresses the current lack of international comparative research in the field of Green HRM. The methodological approach is multi-case study with 50 participants, using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The results show evidence of pro-active environmental management, reflected through a range of operational and people-centred initiatives across the three European countries. Although there is an overarching commitment to environmental sustainability, the positioning and alignment of the environment and HR function differ amongst the subsidiaries, as does the way in which the subsidiaries choose to engage the workforce in environmental sustainability. The study identified a number of factors which explain the differences in approach including, amongst others, strategic and performance drivers and cultural dimensions, such as relationships with key stakeholders

State-of-the-art and future directions for green human resource management: introduction to the special issue

The topic of environmental sustainability is generating increased concern among business executives, governments, consumers, and management scholars. As these stakeholders struggle with the challenges and opportunities presented by an array of environmental issues, HRM scholars and practitioners alike have been relatively slow to engage in the ongoing discussions and debates. Through this special issue on Green HRM, we seek to stimulate the field of HRM to expand its role in the pursuit of environmentally sustainable business. In this introduction to the special issue, we first provide an overview of the articles that appear in the special issue. Next we present a detailed discussion of research questions that arise from a consideration of several functional HRM practices, including performance management; training, development, and learning; compensation and rewards; and organizational culture. We conclude by describing opportunities for research at the intersection of strategic HRM and environmental management. If pursued with vigor, research addressing this extensive agenda could begin to establish a healthy field of Green HRM scholarship

THE MANAGEMENT AND CAPITALIZATION OF THE LANDSCAPING POTENTIAL OF THE CRUCII SQUARE FROM TIMISOARA CITY

The Crucii Square is situated in the Elisabetin district in the city of Timisoara, in a residential area. According to a map from 1849, the current Crucii Square is situated on the very line of the building injunction circle around the fortress of Timisoara. The square name originates from an old cross which was preserved until today. Taking into the age of the oldest trees, the square was set as a green space after 1920. The current landscaping consists in tracing and slabbing the allies and building a new hero monument, also dates from after 1920. The square’s surface is of 6255mp. In the present paper we carried out an estimate of the green space and determined the current vegetation state, since green cadastre is the only way to determine the real state of green spaces belonging to a city’s patrimony, including parks and squares as well as the entire street vegetation (Ciupa et al., 2005). The paper‘s character is thus that of a vegetation fund inventory, as well as organisational design based on ecologic and landscaping criteria. The paper also comprises a square landscaping proposal, highlighting the site’s historic character and the high vegetation value

Rapid brain discrimination of sounds of objects.

Electrical neuroimaging in humans identified the speed and spatiotemporal brain mechanism whereby sounds of living and man-made objects are discriminated. Subjects performed an "oddball" target detection task, selectively responding to sounds of either living or man-made objects on alternating blocks, which were controlled for in their spectrogram and harmonics-to-noise ratios between categories. Analyses were conducted on 64-channel auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) from nontarget trials. Comparing responses to sounds of living versus man-made objects, these analyses tested for modulations in local AEP waveforms, global response strength, and the topography of the electric field at the scalp. In addition, the local autoregressive average distributed linear inverse solution was applied to periods of observed modulations. Just 70 ms after stimulus onset, a common network of brain regions within the auditory "what" processing stream responded more strongly to sounds of man-made versus living objects, with differential activity within the right temporal and left inferior frontal cortices. Over the 155-257 ms period, the duration of activity of a brain network, including bilateral temporal and premotor cortices, differed between categories of sounds. Responses to sounds of living objects peaked approximately 12 ms later and the activity of the brain network active over this period was prolonged relative to that in response to sounds of man-made objects. The earliest task-related effects were observed at approximately 100 ms poststimulus onset, placing an upper limit on the speed of cortical auditory object discrimination. These results provide critical temporal constraints on human auditory object recognition and semantic discrimination processes

Quasi-free π0\pi^0 Photoproduction from the Bound Nucleon

Differential cross-sections for quasi-free $\pi^0$ photoproduction from the proton and neutron bound in the deuteron have been measured for $E_\gamma= 200 - 400$ MeV at $\theta^{\rm lab}_\gamma = 136.2^\circ$ usind the Glasgow photon tagger at MAMI, the Mainz 48 cm $\varnothing$ $\times$ 64 cm NaI(Tl) photon detector and the G\"ottingen SENECA recoil detector. For the proton measurements made with both liquid deuterium and liquid hydrogen targets allow direct comparison of "free" $\pi^0$ photoproduction cross-sections as extracted from the bound proton data with experimental free cross sections which are found to be in reasonable agreement below 320 MeV. At higher energies the "free" cross sections extracted from quasifree data are significantly smaller than the experimental free cross sections and theoretical predictions based on multipole analysis. For the first time, "free" neutron cross sections have been extracted in the $\Delta$-region. They are also in agreement with the predictions from multipole analysis up to 320 MeV and significantly smaller at higher photon energies

Um estudo sobre a realidade da inclusão de pessoas com deficiência na educação superior no Paraná.

This study integrates the discussions shown in the Master's thesis in Education, in which it was analyzed the disabled students inclusion in the Higher Education, emphasizing the access, staying and learning  issues, seeking to understand the inclusion process of these students in Higher Education Institutions in Umuarama City, in Parana Northwest region. For study, enrolled students, concluding and dropout were interviewed, from 2008 to 2014. Analytical, descriptive, qualitative/quantitative research presuppositions were used to be considered appropriated in understanding the participants' life in their university routine, trying to identify, by analysis of data from interviews, the guidelines of this study. The bibliographic basis is of the authors who talk about disabled people education and the educational inclusion in Higher Education. The study shows as study meaning units the difficulties and challenges faced by disable people in Higher Education specially referring to the teaching and learning process, prejudiced situations and accessibility aspects, as well as, the importance of the family participation in academic life, like fundamental elements to the stay or dropout of these students in the Higher Education Institutions (HEI).Este estudo integra as discussões apresentadas na dissertação de Mestrado em Educação, as quais analisaram a inclusão dos estudantes com deficiência na Educação Superior, com ênfase na análise de questões de acesso, permanência e aprendizagem, buscando compreender o processo de inclusão dos mesmos em instituições de Educação Superior do município de Umuarama, na região Noroeste do Paraná. Para o estudo, foram entrevistados estudantes matriculados, concluintes e desistentes, no período de 2008 a 2014. Utilizaram-se os pressupostos da pesquisa qualitativa/quantitativa, descritiva, analítica por ser considerada adequada na compreensão da vida dos participantes em seu cotidiano universitário, buscando-se identificar, por meio da análise dos dados obtidos nas entrevistas, os eixos norteadores deste estudo. A base bibliográfica é de autores que discutem a educação das pessoas com deficiência e a inclusão educacional na Educação Superior. O estudo revela como unidades de significados 1- dificuldades e desafios encontrados pelas pessoas com deficiência na Educação Superior especialmente no que se refere ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem; 2- as situações de preconceito e 3- aspectos da acessibilidade e a importância da participação da família na vida acadêmica, como elementos fundamentais para permanência ou abandono desses estudantes nas IES. A análise dos dados revela que a permanência desses estudantes na Educação Superior ocorre em meio a dificuldades, como falta de materiais adequados e preconceito. Ações de responsabilidade das IES ficaram a cargo das famílias, que assumem papel relevante para que eles superem dificuldades impostas pela própria deficiência. A compreensão e estímulo de professores e de amigos são condições que auxiliam na permanência e conclusão do curso

Quasi-free Compton Scattering and the Polarizabilities of the Neutron

Differential cross sections for quasi-free Compton scattering from the proton and neutron bound in the deuteron have been measured using the Glasgow/Mainz tagging spectrometer at the Mainz MAMI accelerator together with the Mainz 48 cm $\oslash$ $\times$ 64 cm NaI(Tl) photon detector and the G\"ottingen SENECA recoil detector. The data cover photon energies ranging from 200 MeV to 400 MeV at $\theta^{LAB}_\gamma=136.2^\circ$. Liquid deuterium and hydrogen targets allowed direct comparison of free and quasi-free scattering from the proton. The neutron detection efficiency of the SENECA detector was measured via the reaction $p(\gamma,\pi^+ n)$. The "free" proton Compton scattering cross sections extracted from the bound proton data are in reasonable agreement with those for the free proton which gives confidence in the method to extract the differential cross section for free scattering from quasi-free data. Differential cross sections on the free neutron have been extracted and the difference of the electromagnetic polarizabilities of the neutron have been obtained to be $\alpha-\beta= 9.8\pm 3.6(stat){}^{2.1}_1.1(syst)\pm 2.2(model)$ in units $10^{-4}fm^3$. In combination with the polarizability sum $\alpha +\beta=15.2\pm 0.5$ deduced from photoabsorption data, the neutron electric and magnetic polarizabilities, $\alpha_n=12.5\pm 1.8(stat){}^{+1.1}_{-0.6}\pm 1.1(model)$ and $\beta_n=2.7\mp 1.8(stat){}^{+0.6}_{-1.1}(syst)\mp 1.1(model)$ are obtained. The backward spin polarizability of the neutron was determined to be $\gamma^{(n)}_\pi=(58.6\pm 4.0)\times 10^{-4}fm^4$

Compton Scattering by the Proton using a Large-Acceptance Arrangement

Compton scattering by the proton has been measured using the tagged-photon facility at MAMI (Mainz) and the large-acceptance arrangement LARA. The new data are interpreted in terms of dispersion theory based on the SAID-SM99K parameterization of photo-meson amplitudes. It is found that two-pion exchange in the t-channel is needed for a description of the data in the second resonance region. The data are well represented if this channel is modeled by a single pole with mass parameter m(sigma)=600 MeV. The asymptotic part of the spin dependent amplitude is found to be well represented by pi-0-exchange in the t-channel. A backward spin-polarizability of gamma(pi)=(-37.1+-0.6(stat+syst)+-3.0(model))x10^{-4}fm^4 has been determined from data of the first resonance region below 455 MeV. This value is in a good agreement with predictions of dispersion relations and chiral pertubation theory. From a subset of data between 280 and 360 MeV the resonance pion-photoproduction amplitudes were evaluated leading to a E2/M1 multipole ratio of the p-to-Delta radiative transition of EMR(340 MeV)=(-1.7+-0.4(stat+syst)+-0.2(model))%. It was found that this number is dependent on the parameterization of photo-meson amplitudes. With the MAID2K parameterization an E2/M1 multipole ratio of EMR(340 MeV)=(-2.0+-0.4(stat+syst)+-0.2(model))% is obtained