The Determinants of Lateness: Evidence from British Workers

Using a sample of male and female workers from the 1992 Employment in Britain survey we estimate a generalised grouped zero-inflated Poisson regression model of employeesÕ self-reported lateness. Reflecting theoretical predictions from both psychology and economics, lateness is modelled as a function of incentives, the monitoring of and sanctions for lateness within the workplace, job satisfaction and attitudes to work. Various aspects of workplace incentive and disciplinary policies turn out to affect lateness, however, once these are controlled for, an important role for job satisfaction remains.

Water—A Problem in Montana

Water—A Problem in Montan

A family affair: job loss and the mental health of spouses and adolescents

Examines the impact of involuntary job loss on the mental health of family members. Abstract This study examines the impact of involuntary job loss on the mental health of family members. Estimates from fixed-effects panel data models, using panel data for Australia, provide little evidence of any negative spillover effect on the mental health of husbands as a result of their wives\u27 job loss. The mental well-being of wives, however, declines following their husbands\u27 job loss, but only if that job loss results in a sustained period of non-employment or if the couple experienced financial hardship or relationship strain prior to the husband\u27s job loss. A negative effect of parental job loss on the mental health of co-resident adolescent children is also found, but appears to be restricted to girls

Collective excitations of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

We apply linear-response analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to obtain the excitation frequencies of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a time-averaged orbiting potential trap. Our calculated values are in excellent agreement with those observed in a recent experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 2 Postscript figures, uses psbox.tex for automatic figure inclusion. More info at http://amo.phy.gasou.edu/bec.htm

Communication modes in collaboration: An empirical assessment of metaphors, visualization, and narratives in multidisciplinary design student teams

Universities increasingly incorporate multidisciplinary design projects into their curriculum to better prepare their students for the labor market. In these projects, student team members of various disciplinary backgrounds develop new product or service concepts for organizational partners. This structure enables students to learn not only from the interaction with the content and lecturer, but also from communication with other team members. Little is known, however, about the relative effectiveness of specific communication modes on improving student learning outcomes in these interactions. This study examines the effect of three important communication modes – metaphors, visualizations, and narratives – on reported learning from other members. A total of 64 students working on two large multidisciplinary design student teams participated in this study. Survey results indicate that perceived learning increases through awareness and use of metaphorical communication, beyond previously supported effects for narratives and visualization. We conclude with implications for the way information is represented and structured within multidisciplinary design student teams, and future research directions

Clear as a bell: the influence of analogies on the development of cross-understanding in design teams

Purpose This study reviews the construct of analogy as an individual communication mode, examining its relationship with cross-understanding in knowledge-diverse teams. The authors theorize that analogy use enhances team information processing beyond mere communication frequency through bridging knowledge differences across team members. The authors propose that analogies will have a direct relationship to knowledge application, and an indirect effect via cross-understanding. However, communication frequency will have only an indirect effect on knowledge application through cross-understanding. Design/methodology/approach The authors sampled a 49-member team with 14 subteams, yielding 146 usable dyadic relationships. Two mediation models were estimated while using linear mixed-effect models in SPSS. Findings The results confirm the importance of analogies and cross-understanding in teams, generally supporting the hypotheses. Mere communication frequency was not related to knowledge application, indicating that “how you say it” may be more important than how often a team member speaks. Research limitations/implications This research explored these constructs through a three-week project in a sample of graduate students working with a real-world client. Future research could explore the validity of this model in other organizational settings and test the analogy construct on the team level. Practical implications The effectiveness of team member communication should be measured not only as frequency but also in terms of analogies to transmit meaning. Originality/value This paper contributes to an understanding of teams as information processors by building empirical support for the utility of analogical communication in design teams, establishing the relationship of analogies to cross-understanding and knowledge application