Changes In The Top Management Team: Performance Implications Of Altering Team Composition

This study focuses on the performance implications of changes in the top management team using an eleven-year period longitudinal research design with a sample of 45 of the largest corporations in the Netherlands. The central argument of this paper builds on the idea that exits and entries of top management team members have a significant impact on subsequent firm performance due to the resulting changes in the composition of the team. Two aspects of team composition – organizational tenure and age - are examined in more detail. Specifically it is argued that changes in the top team which lead to higher degrees of dissimilarity between members of the team on the two aspects examined, will have a negative effect on performance. Results indicate that exits and entries indeed have performance implications in the years following the change. These performance effects can, however, not be attributed to increasing age or tenure dissimilarity.management and organization theory ;

Continuity And Renewal At The Top: Performance Effects Of The Level, Extent, Type And Frequency Of Top Management Team Changes

This study examines performance effects of changes in the top management team using an eleven-year period longitudinal research design with a sample of 45 major Dutch multinationals. Since changes at the top are a multi-faceted phenomenon, we study the topic from four different angles. Results indicate that the level of change in terms of CEO versus non-CEO changes and the extent of change in terms of the proportion of managers entering or exiting the team do not influence subsequent firm performance. Type and frequency of change however do matter. Our results indicate that renewal of top management teams in terms of non-retirement exits and limited outside entries can be beneficial for firm performance in the following year, especially when exits and entries are well aligned. On the other hand, a certain degree of continuity is also warranted. Too many outside entries at the same time were found to be disadvantageous in the short-run, while many CEO successions in a row were found to be disadvantageous in the longer-run.management and organization theory ;

Conflict, Trust, and Effectiveness in Teams Performing Complex Tasks: A Study of Temporal Patterns

In this study we analyze the evolution of intra-team conflict and trust in teams that perform complex tasks. Using a longitudinal research design with six time intervals over a period of ten months, we collected data on 41 teams. Our findings suggest the existence of two distinct temporal patterns. One pattern develops in a stable manner and is characterized by high levels of trust and relatively low levels of task and relationship conflict. The other pattern is unstable with low, deteriorating levels of trust and high, amplifying levels of task and relationship conflict. These patterns are associated with significant differences in team effectiveness. On a self-perception as well as a stakeholder measure of team effectiveness, teams with stable patterns outperformed teams with unstable patterns.management and organization theory ;

Methods of restricting forage intake in horses

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2014. Major: Animal sciences. Advisor: Krishona L. Martinson, PhD. 1 computer file (PDF); vi, 70 pages.Horses have evolved to be hindgut fermenters, requiring small amounts of forage to be consumed throughout the day [1]. However, due to the recent increase in equine obesity [2-4], it has become necessary to restrict the amount of feedstuffs a horse consumes, often resulting in a restriction of forage intakes. In order to maintain a healthy gastrointestinal system, management strategies should attempt to replicate a horse's natural foraging habits. The objectives of the following studies were: 1) to investigate the effectiveness of decreasing pasture forage intakes via use of a grazing muzzle, and whether the effectiveness could be altered by grass morphology and palatability, 2) to investigate the effectiveness of "slow-feed hay nets" at increasing time to consumption of a preserved forage meal in stalled horses and 3) to observe the effects of increased time to consumption of daily rations on the post-prandial metabolic response. To determine objective 1, a two-year study was designed where four horses were used in a Latin square design in Year 1, while 3 horses were used in a completely randomized design in Year 2. Horses were grazed for 4 hours on monoculture plots four days per month for four months. Initial herbage mass and residual herbage mass measurements were taken to determine forage intakes. For objective 2, 8 horses were used in a replicated Latin square design, with 2 horses assigned to a treatment at a time. There was a control (C) of feeding hay on the ground, as well as three treatments: small-opening net (SN), medium-opening net (MN) and large-opening net (LN). Horses were allowed 4 h to consume their hay meal. Time to consumption and dry matter intake rate were measured using a stopwatch and any orts remaining after the 4 h were collected and weighed. To estimate objective 3, 8 overweight horses were enrolled in a randomized complete block design. Horses were blocked by bodyweight, BCS, and gender. Horses were fed a control diet of hay at 2% BW for a period of 10 days, and were then switched to a restricted diet of hay fed at 1.08% and ration balancer fed once daily at a rate of 0.001% BW. Horses were assigned to one of two treatments: hay fed off the floor (FLOOR) and hay fed in a small-opening hay net (HN). Serial 24 h blood samples were taken on day 0, when horses were still on baseline diet, as well as days 14 and 28. Plasma glucose, insulin, cortisol, and leptin values were estimated.Results of objective 1 found that grazing muzzles were effective at decreasing pasture intakes by 30% (P < 0.0001). Species had no effect on intakes in Year 1 (P = 0.27), but did impact intakes in Year 2 (P = 0.042). Results of objective 2 found that SN and MN were effective at increasing total time to consumption (P < 0.0001) compared to horses on the control and LN, more closely mimicking a horses' natural foraging behavior. Results of objective 3 found that hay nets decreased overall stress of horses on a restricted diet (P < 0.05), however length of sampling and weight loss had a larger impact on post-prandial metabolite. Horses on day 28 of the trial had higher average glucose, insulin and cortisol values, as well as lower AUC cortisol. Increasing time to consumption of forages is a healthy method of decreasing body weight while maintaining healthy post-prandial metabolite values

Electronic and magnetic properties of GaMnAs: Annealing effects

The effect of short-time and long-time annealing at 250C on the conductivity, hole density, and Curie temperature of GaMnAs single layers and GaMnAs/InGaMnAs heterostructures is studied by in-situ conductivity measurements as well as Raman and SQUID measurements before and after annealing. Whereas the conductivity monotonously increases with increasing annealing time, the hole density and the Curie temperature show a saturation after annealing for 30 minutes. The incorporation of thin InGaMnAs layers drastically enhances the Curie temperature of the GaMnAs layers.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physica