Knowledge management and team innovation: understanding the team processes underlying high innovativeness

Being innovative means being willing ‘to go the extra mile’ beyond routine tasks in teams. It also means that team members are willing to consider different perspectives in heterogeneous teams and to share information. Important antecedents of team innovation are successful information sharing and helping behaviour among team members. Although the importance of information sharing for innovation is seemingly self-evident, we still know very little about the group processes that support team innovation (West, 2002). Information sharing is a group process that is an indispensable part of team integration. Team roles and team tasks need to be discussed to successfully achieve team goals. In heterogeneous teams with members from different occupational backgrounds integrating processes such as information sharing are even more important. To date, research on information sharing has focused mainly on the type of information that is shared or unshared (Brodbeck, Kerschreiter, Mojzisch, Frey, & Schulz-Hardt, 2002; Stasser, Stewart, & Wittenbaum, 1995) and on antecedents of information sharing, such as trust (Butler, 1999), task and reward interdependence (Moser & Wodzicki, 2007), or how person perception might affect information exchange (de Bruin & Van Lange, 2000). The link between output measures of group performance, such as innovativeness, and information sharing has always been implied and has been explored theoretically to some extent (Diehl & Ziegler, 2000), but empirical studies that go beyond organisational case studies (Basadur & Gelade, 2006) are still scarce. If we define innovation as the introduction of new ideas and new ways of doing things at work as suggested by West (2002), then sharing information about these new ideas and developing ideas further in the team through information sharing is a prerequisite for team innovation. However, the role of information is likely to be very different for routine team tasks and for team innovation. Especially in heterogeneous teams with members from different occupational backgrounds, task interdependence is likely to be lower for new and innovative processes than for established procedures and routine tasks. This means that information sharing is ‘nice to have’ and would be expected to affect team innovation, but is at the same time not indispensable for completing routine team tasks. This distinction is important, because under low task interdependence different social processes come into play in groups (Moser & Wodzicki, 2007). Information sharing under low task interdependence can be defined as a form of prosocial behaviour at work. It means that team members are willing to put in an extra effort and ‘go the extra mile’ to discuss their perspectives on the team task with colleagues from a different disciplinary background. In the studies presented here we argue that the importance of information sharing and helping behaviour for team innovation should therefore increase if occupational diversity is high and team size is large. The hypothesis was tested in two independent samples of health care teams (N1=72 breast cancer care teams, N2=113 community mental health teams), using team innovation rated by independent experts as outcome variable. Multiple regression analysis showed that helping behaviour had a significant independent effect on innovation for both team types, while information sharing only had a significant association with innovation for breast cancer teams. The interaction effects of team size and occupational diversity were tested with moderated regression analysis for both helping behaviour and information sharing. Both team processes showed strong main effects, which were even stronger if occupational diversity was high. There was also a main effect of team size on innovation, which is increased especially if helping behaviour in the team is strong. The interaction effect with team size could thus be confirmed for both teams, while the interaction with team size was only found for the mental health care teams. The partially different results for the two different team types could be explained by the differences in task and team structures. While mental health teams have stable membership and meet less regularly than breast cancer teams, breast cancer teams are cross-functional teams with multiple team memberships. In conclusion, it can be said that especially helping behaviour seems to be crucial for team innovation. If teams are large, and helping behaviour among team members is strong, the capacity for innovation seems to be greatly increased. Implications for understanding the psychological processes underlying team innovation and for managing knowledge sharing in teams are discussed

Harnessing Demographic Differences in Organizations: What Moderates the Effects of Workplace Diversity?

To account for the double-edged nature of demographic workplace diversity (i.e. relational demography, work group diversity, and organizational diversity) effects on social integration, performance and well-being related variables, research has moved away from simple main effect approaches and started examining variables that moderate these effects. While there is no shortage of primary studies of the conditions under which diversity leads to positive or negative outcomes, it remains unclear which contingency factors make it work. Using the Categorization-Elaboration Model (van Knippenberg, DeDreu, & Homan 2004) as our theoretical lens we review variables moderating the effects of workplace diversity on social integration, performance and well-being outcomes, focusing on factors that organizations and managers have control over (i.e. strategy, unit design, HR, leadership, climate/culture, and individual differences). We point out avenues for future research and conclude with practical implications

Self-assembled dynamic perovskite composite cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Electrode materials for intermediate temperature (500–700 ∘C) solid oxide fuel cells require electrical and mechanical stability to maintain performance during the cell lifetime. This has proven difficult to achieve for many candidate cathode materials and their derivatives with good transport and electrocatalytic properties because of reactivity towards cell components, and the fuels and oxidants. Here we present Ba0.5Sr0.5(Co0.7Fe0.3)0.6875W0.3125O3−δ (BSCFW), a self-assembled composite prepared through simple solid state synthesis, consisting of B-site cation ordered double perovskite and disordered single perovskite oxide phases, as a candidate cathode material. These phases interact by dynamic compositional change at the operating temperature, promoting both chemical stability through the increased amount of W in the catalytically active single perovskite provided from the W-reservoir double perovskite, and microstructural stability through reduced sintering of the supported catalytically active phase. This interactive catalyst-support system enabled stable high electrochemical activity through the synergic integration of the distinct properties of the two phases

Design and fabrication of plasmonic cavities for magneto-optical sensing (article)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AIP Publishing via the DOI in this record.The dataset associated with this article is located in ORE at: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/32604The design and fabrication of a novel plasmonic cavity, intended to allow far-field recovery of signals arising from near field magneto-optical interactions, is presented. Finite element modeling is used to describe the interaction between a gold film, containing cross-shaped cavities, with a nearby magnetic under-layer. The modeling revealed strong electric field confinement near the center of the cross structure for certain optical wavelengths, which may be tuned by varying the length of the cross through a range that is compatible with available fabrication techniques. Furthermore, the magneto optical Kerr effect (MOKE) response of the composite structure can be enhanced with respect to that of the bare magnetic film. To confirm these findings, cavities were milled within gold films deposited upon a soluble film, allowing relocation to a ferromagnetic film using a float transfer technique. Cross cavity arrays were fabricated and characterized by optical transmission spectroscopy prior to floating, revealing resonances at optical wavelengths in good agreement with the finite element modeling. Following transfer to the magnetic film, circular test apertures within the gold film yielded clear magneto-optical signals even for diameters within the sub-wavelength regime. However, no magneto-optical signal was observed for the cross cavity arrays, since the FIB milling process was found to produce nanotube structures within the soluble under-layer that adhered to the gold. Further optimization of the fabrication process should allow recovery of magneto-optical signal from cross cavity structures.Financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) grants EP/1038470/I and EP/1038411/1 is gratefully acknowledged. We also acknowledge the support of Seagate Technology (Ireland) under SOW 00077300.0. RMB contribution to project was supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships Scheme

Higgs boson enhancement effects on squark-pair production at the LHC

We study the Higgs boson effects on third-generation squark-pair production in proton-proton collision at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), including \Stop \Stop^*, \Stop\Sbot^*, and \Sbot \Sbot^*. We found that substantial enhancement can be obtained through s-channel exchanges of Higgs bosons at large $\tan\beta$, at which the enhancement mainly comes from $b\bar b$, $b\bar c$, and $c\bar b$ initial states. We compute the complete set of electroweak (EW) contributions to all production channels. This completes previous computations in the literature. We found that the EW contributions can be significant and can reach up to 25% in more general scenarios and at the resonance of the heavy Higgs boson. The size of Higgs enhancement is comparable or even higher than the PDF uncertainties and so must be included in any reliable analysis. A full analytical computation of all the EW contributions is presented.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

The role of primary healthcare professionals in oral cancer prevention and detection

AIM: To investigate current knowledge, examination habits and preventive practices of primary healthcare professionals in Scotland, with respect to oral cancer, and to determine any relevant training needs. SETTING: Primary care. METHOD: Questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 357 general medical practitioners (GMPs) and 331 dental practitioners throughout Scotland. Additionally, focus group research and interviews were conducted amongst primary healthcare team members. RESULTS: Whilst 58% of dental respondents reported examining regularly for signs of oral cancer, GMPs examined patients' mouths usually in response to a complaint of soreness. The majority of GMPs (85%) and dentists (63%) indicated that they felt less than confident in detecting oral cancer, with over 70% of GMPs identifying lack of training as an important barrier. Many practitioners were unclear concerning the relative importance of the presence of potentially malignant lesions in the oral cavity. A high proportion of the GMPs indicated that they should have a major role to play in oral cancer detection (66%) but many felt strongly that this should be primarily the remit of the dental team. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a need for continuing education programmes for primary care practitioners in oral cancer-related activities. This should aim to improve diagnostic skills and seek to increase practitioners' participation in preventive activities

Enhanced switching stability in Ta 2 O 5 resistive RAM by fluorine doping

The effect of fluorine doping on the switching stability of Ta2O5 resistive random access memory devices is investigated. It shows that the dopant serves to increase the memory window and improve the stability of the resistive states due to the neutralization of oxygen vacancies. The ability to alter the current in the low resistance state with set current compliance coupled with large memory window makes multilevel cell switching more favorable. The devices have set and reset voltages of <1V with improved stability due to the fluorine doping. Density functional modelling shows that the incorporation of fluorine dopant atoms at the two-fold O vacancy site in the oxide network removes the defect state in the mid bandgap, lowering the overall density of defects capable of forming conductive filaments. This reduces the probability of forming alternative conducting paths and hence improves the current stability in the low resistance states. The doped devices exhibit more stable resistive states in both dc and pulsed set and reset cycles. The retention failure time is estimated to be a minimum of 2 years for F-doped devices measured by temperature accelerated and stress voltage accelerated retention failure methods

The role of nitrogen doping in ALD Ta2O5 and its influence on multilevel cell switching in RRAM

The role of nitrogen doping on the stability and memory window of resistive state switching in N-doped Ta2O5 deposited by atomic layer deposition is elucidated. Nitrogen incorporation increases the stability of resistive memory states which is attributed to neutralization of electronic defect levels associated with oxygen vacancies. The density functional simulation with screened exchange hybrid functional approximation finds that the incorporation of nitrogen dopant atoms in the oxide network removes the O vacancy midgap defect states, thus nullifying excess defects and eliminating alternative conductive paths. By effectively reducing the density of vacancy-induced defect states through N doping, 3-bit multilevel cell switching is demonstrated, consisting of eight distinctive resistive memory states achieved by either controlling the set current compliance or the maximum voltage during reset. Nitrogen doping has a threefold effect; widening the switching memory window to accommodate more intermediate states, improving the stability of states, and providing gradual reset for multi-level cell switching during reset. The N-doped Ta2O5 devices have relatively small set and reset voltages (< 1 V) with reduced variability due to doping

On the effect of resonances in composite Higgs phenomenology

We consider a generic composite Higgs model based on the coset SO(5)/SO(4) and study its phenomenology beyond the leading low-energy effective lagrangian approximation. Our basic goal is to introduce in a controllable and simple way the lowest-lying, possibly narrow, resonances that may exist is such models. We do so by proposing a criterion that we call partial UV completion. We characterize the simplest cases, corresponding respectively to a scalar in either singlet or tensor representation of SO(4) and to vectors in the adjoint of SO(4). We study the impact of these resonances on the signals associated to high-energy vector boson scattering, pointing out for each resonance the characteristic patterns of depletion and enhancement with respect to the leading-order chiral lagrangian. En route we derive the O(p^4) general chiral lagrangian and discuss its peculiar accidental and approximate symmetries.Comment: v3: a few typos corrected. Conclusions unchange

Using zeta-potential measurements to quantify peptide partition to lipid membranes

© The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com.Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.Many cellular phenomena occur on the biomembranes. There are plenty of molecules (natural or xenobiotics) that interact directly or partially with the cell membrane. Biomolecules, such as several peptides (e.g., antimicrobial peptides) and proteins, exert their effects at the cell membrane level. This feature makes necessary investigating their interactions with lipids to clarify their mechanisms of action and side effects necessary. The determination of molecular lipid/water partition constants (Kp) is frequently used to quantify the extension of the interaction. The determination of this parameter has been achieved by using different methodologies, such as UV-Vis absorption spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectroscopy and ζ-potential measurements. In this work, we derived and tested a mathematical model to determine the Kp from ζ-potential data. The values obtained with this method were compared with those obtained by fluorescence spectroscopy, which is a regular technique used to quantify the interaction of intrinsically fluorescent peptides with selected biomembrane model systems. Two antimicrobial peptides (BP100 and pepR) were evaluated by this new method. The results obtained by this new methodology show that ζ-potential is a powerful technique to quantify peptide/lipid interactions of a wide variety of charged molecules, overcoming some of the limitations inherent to other techniques, such as the need for fluorescent labeling.This work was partially supported by project PTDC/QUI/ 69937/2006 from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia-Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT-MCTES, Portugal), and by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal). JMF and MMD also thank FCT-MCTES for grants IMM/BT/37-2010 and SFRH/BD/41750/2007, respectively