Foreign banks: Executive jobs for Turkish women?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the employment policies and practices of Turkish banks and how these practices affect the hiring and promotion of women. Turkey's banking sector consists of state-owned, private, and foreign banks. The overall restructuring of this sector along with the increase of foreign banks is an opportunity to enquire whether human resource (HR) policies of foreign banks have a differential effect on women's employment. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected in three phases. Phase 1: employment data for all three bank types were analyzed with particular reference to women's employment. About 12 of the largest banks were selected for in-depth study representing each of the three bank categories. Phase 2: bank-specific data were collected from the HR directors including: bank structure, personnel and recruitment policies, management levels, women in each level and professional employment application. Phase 3: structured personal interviews were conducted with the HR directors in the 12 selected banks. Findings - The HR departments of foreign banks use different assessment and selection criteria compared with Turkish private and state-owned banks. These criteria emphasize rank-in-person, which enhances the upward mobility of employees. Because of their flexibility, they may advantage female employment. Research limitations/implications - Survey data from female employees by type of bank would demonstrate a close relationship between organizational structure and women's career advancement. However, this study only interviewed HR managers. The methodology does not indicate whether and to what extent women in three banking types perceive the effect of structure on their career advancement. Practical implications - HR practices of the three categories evidences that foreign banks in Turkey add a variety of competencies of their prospective employees in their application forms. These additional dimensions may improve the recruitment and promotion of women into management positions. It is argued that employment applications that include individual or rank-in-person characteristics rather than job-based criteria advantage women. Originality/value - This is the only study that examines women's employment stratified by Turkey's three banking categories. The effect of culture and structure on employment practices and how this influences the mobility of women are explored

Use of a trabecular metal implant in ankle arthrodesis after failed total ankle replacement: A short-term follow-up of 13 patients

Patients and methods 13 patients with a migrated or loose total ankle implant underwent arthrodesis with the use of a retrograde intramedullary nail through a trabecular metal Tibial Cone. The mean follow-up time was 1.4 (0.6-3.4) years. Results At the last examination, 7 patients were pain-free, while 5 had some residual pain but were satisfied with the procedure. 1 patient was dissatisfied and experienced pain and swelling when walking. The implant-bone interfaces showed no radiographic zones or gaps in any patient, indicating union. Interpretation The method is a new way of simplifying and overcoming some of the problems of performing arthrodesis after failed total ankle replacement

Network centrality and organizational aspirations: A behavioral interaction in the context of international strategic alliances

Whereas social network analysis has been associated with organizational aspirations, little is known on how firm's structural positioning, and particularly network centrality, affects organizational aspirations to engage in international strategic alliances (ISA). This study examines the impact of network centrality on firm's internationalization behavior within the ISA domain in response to the performance-aspiration gap. We build on social and behavioral perspectives to predict that network centrality and performance-based aspirations will be associated with the number of ISA the firm engages in. Using a sample of 7760 alliance collaborations from the top 81 global pharmaceutical firms for the period of 1991-2012, we find supporting evidence for most of our arguments

Heart Rate as a Measure of Exercise Testing Early after Acquired Brain Injury

Background The relationship between heart rate and oxygen consumption (VO2) in individuals with acquired brain injury has been described as being curvilinear; which could lead to under-estimation of exercise intensity when prescribed by heart rate. Purpose This study examines the linearity of the heart rate/oxygen consumption relationship during incremental cycle ergometer exercise in individuals early after brain injury and provides an estimate of the intra-individual reliability of the heart rate response. Method A convenience sample of 38 individuals attending an inpatient neurological rehabilitation centre after acquired brain injury who met the inclusion criteria (trauma 18, stroke 9, tumour and hypoxia 11) underwent testing. Oxygen consumption and heart rate were measured during a graded cycle ergometer test. A further six individuals underwent re-testing within one week Results The heart rate/ oxygen consumption response was linear and can be described by the equation: HR = 86 + 0.029 VO2( SE; 0.003). Heart rate during the second test was on average 8 beats per minutelower than in the first test. The random error during the final stage of testing was 8 and 17 beats per minute respectively. Conclusions The linear relationship between heart rate and oxygen consumption suggests that exercise intensity can be validly prescribed from heart rate in this group and within the scale range used in this study. The reduced heart rate in individuals re-tested within ten days suggests some bias and that clinicians may need to consider more familiarisation periods before exercise testing. Reliability of exercise testing in this clinical group needs further investigation.Paper adds to the growing body of evidence that children can acquire phonological systems before they are able to master the phonetic skills needed to convey the contrasts in that systemsch_phy89pub4477pub1