Making management (more) relevant: breaking down disciplinary walls and pursuing neglected independent variables

The Walls Project encourages educators to broaden management teaching beyond individual and organizational variables and outcomes to systemic variables and outcomes. Its focus is on discovering independent variables that have social and environmental impacts and are currently neglected. Founded by six individuals who met at a RMLE UnConference in 2017,the Project decided to share pedagogical materials, examine them for commonalities, and present their findings at the MOBTC conference in 2019. This article summarizes these materials with an eye to revealing several variables of consequence, such as socioeconomic status and belief in economic growth, which are studied and taught infrequently in business schools. We suggest that researchers examine business curricula for similar neglected variables, study their impact across systems levels, and then develop them pedagogically to enhance management education that has a social and environmental impact

Nitrogen Excretion and Ammonia Emissions from Pigs Fed Modified Diets

Two swine feeding trials were conducted (initial body weight = 47 ± 2 and 41 ± 3 kg for Trials 1 and 2, respectively) to evaluate reduced crude protein (CP) and yucca (Yucca schidigera Roezl ex Ortgies) extract–supplemented diets on NH3 emissions. In Trial 1, nine pigs were offered a corn–soybean meal diet (C, 174 g kg−1 CP), a Lys-supplemented diet (L, 170 g kg−1 CP), or a 145 g kg−1 CP diet supplemented with Lys, Met, Thr, and Trp (LMTT). In Trial 2, nine pigs were fed diet L supplemented with 0, 62.5, or 125 mg of yucca extract per kg diet. Each feeding period consisted of a 4-d dietary adjustment followed by 72 h of continuous NH3 measurement. Urine and fecal samples were collected each period. Feeding the LMTT diet reduced (P \u3c 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (G:F) compared to diet L. Fecal N concentration decreased with a reduction in dietary CP, but urinary ammonium increased from pigs fed diet LMTT (2.0 g kg−1, wet basis) compared to those fed diet C (1.1 g kg−1) or L (1.0 g kg−1). When pigs were fed reduced CP diets NH3emission rates decreased (2.46, 2.16, and 1.05 mg min−1 for diets C, L, and LMTT). Yucca had no effect on feed intake, ADG, or G:F. Ammonium and N concentrations of manure and NH3 emission rates did not differ with yucca content. Caution must be executed to maintain animal performance when strategies are implemented to reduce NH3 emissions

Exposure of Workers to Airborne Microorganisms in Open-Air Swine Houses

This study quantified the levels of airborne microorganisms in six swine farms with more than 10,000 pigs in subtropical Taiwan. We evaluated breeding, growing, and finishing stalls, which were primarily open-air buildings, as well as partially enclosed farrowing and nursery piggeries. Airborne culturable bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and fungi were placed on appropriate media by using an all-glass impinger or single-stage Andersen microbial sampler. Results showed that mean concentrations of culturable bacteria and gram-negative bacteria were 3.3 × 10(5) and 143.7 CFU/m(3), respectively. The concentration of airborne culturable fungi was about 10(3) CFU/m(3), with Cladosporium the predominant genus. The highest airborne levels of culturable bacteria and gram-negative bacteria were identified in the finishing units. The air of the nursery stalls was the least contaminated with culturable and gram-negative bacteria. Irregular and infrequent cleaning, high pig density, no separation of wastes from pen floors, and accumulation of water as a result of the processes for cleaning and reducing pig temperature possibly compromise the benefits of the open characteristic of the finishing units with respect to airborne bacterial concentration