Contextual determinants of HR professionals’ self-perceptions of unethical HRM practices

This study examined human resources (HR) professionals’ self-perceptions of ethically questionable human resource management (HRM) practices (i.e., a disregard for the individual, favoring those in power, and discrimination). The research sought specifically to determine how these perceptions are influenced by their organizations’ ethical infrastructure and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Data were collected from 134 HR professionals using an anonymous structured questionnaire. The scope of organizations’ ethics programs and the degree of importance given to developing an ethical infrastructure were found to predict the level of acceptance of unethical HRM practices related to discrimination. These practices are also less acceptable to professionals from organizations that are perceived as more socially responsible regarding their employees. Additional studies with larger samples are needed to determine more clearly not only the influence of contextual determinants but also the practical consequences of high levels of acceptance of unethical practices in HRM. Organizations can decrease their HR professionals’ acceptance of ethically questionable HRM practices by developing and emphasizing a strong ethical infrastructure and CSR practices, especially those affecting employees. HR professionals’ perceptions of ethical issues have rarely been analyzed using empirically tested methods. By surveying HR professionals, this study contributes to a fuller understanding of their perceptions regarding the ethics of their own practices. The results show that contextual determinants play an important role in predicting the level of acceptance of unethical HRM practices, especially those leading to discrimination.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

More socially responsible, more ethical, more attractive as a future employer? Contributes of corporate social performance and ethical reputation for the attraction of future employees

Previous studies suggest that the corporate social performance of organizations influences their attractiveness as a workplace. This study analyzed additional variables that may help explain this relationship. In this context, an ethical reputation is a construct positively related to corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the research, CSR perception was manipulated in order to observe its effect on organizational attractiveness through the mediating effect of ethical reputation. Participants (n = 260) were randomly subjected to two experimental conditions by responding to an electronic questionnaire containing the description of an organization that implements (i.e., the high involvement condition) or not (i.e., the low involvement condition) a set of CSR practices. This was followed by questions about other variables of interest. The results show that the proposed theoretical model provides a strong fit to the data, thus empirically supporting the proposal that CSR directly and indirectly affects, through ethical reputation, evaluations of organizations as a future workplace. In practical terms, this means that, in the war for talent, organizations can use information about their corporate social performance and ethical reputation to attract potential candidates, alongside more traditional information on organizational attributes and job characteristics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effect of corporate social responsibility on job pursuit intentions: Contributes from person-organization fit and organizational attractiveness

Previous studies suggest that the corporate social performance of organizations influences their attractiveness as a future workplace (e.g., Gomes & Neves, 2010; Greening & Turban, 2000). People tend to considerer an organization as more attractive when, knowing its socially responsible practices, they perceive higher levels of person-organization fit (Kim & Park, 2011). The present study analyzes how the relation between these variables translates into job pursuit intentions, namely intention to apply for a job vacancy (IAJV). In the research, CSR perception was manipulated in order to observe its effect on IAJV through the mediating effect of perceived person-organization fit and organizational attractiveness. Participants (n = 260) were randomly subjected to two experimental conditions by responding to an electronic questionnaire containing the description of an organization that implements (i.e., the high involvement condition) or not (i.e., the low involvement condition) a set of CSR practices. This was followed by questions about other variables of interest. The results of multiple mediation analyses using PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) support the proposal that CSR indirectly affects participants’ IAJV, through perceived person-organization fit and organizational attractiveness.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Organizações mais socialmente responsáveis, mais éticas, mais atrativas como futuras empregadoras? Contributos do desempenho social e da reputação ética para a atração de futuros trabalhadores

Previous studies suggest that the corporate social performance of organizations influences their attractiveness as a workplace. This study analyzed additional variables that may help explain this relationship. In this context, an ethical reputation is a construct positively related to corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the research, CSR perception was manipulated in order to observe its effect on organizational attractiveness through the mediating effect of ethical reputation. Participants (n = 260) were randomly subjected to two experimental conditions by responding to an electronic questionnaire containing the description of an organization that implements (i.e., the high involvement condition) or not (i.e., the low involvement condition) a set of CSR practices. This was followed by questions about other variables of interest. The results show that the proposed theoretical model provides a strong fit to the data, thus empirically supporting the proposal that CSR directly and indirectly affects, through ethical reputation, evaluations of organizations as a future workplace. In practical terms, this means that, in the war for talent, organizations can use information about their corporate social performance and ethical reputation to attract potential candidates, alongside more traditional information on organizational attributes and job characteristics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An annotated checklist of freshwater copepoda (crustacea, hexanauplia) from continental Ecuador and the Galapagos archipelago

An annotated checklist of the free-living freshwater Copepoda recorded in different regions in Ecuador (including the Amazon, the Andes, the coastal region, and the Galapagos Islands) is here provided. We revised all published records, critically evaluated the validity of each taxon and provided short taxonomic and biogeographical remarks for each one. A total of 27 taxa have been reported, including species and records at the generic level only. The species and taxa identified only up to the generic level belong to five families and 14 genera. The Cyclopoida is the most diverse group with 16 records belonging to species (or identified to the generic level only) and eight genera, followed by the Harpacticoida with six species, one identification to the generic level only, and four genera, and Calanoida with four species belonging to two genera. A total of 18 taxa are recorded for the Andes. Six have been recorded in the Amazon, two are recorded for the coastal region, and six for the Galapagos. One species is shared between the Amazon and the Andes. One species is shared between the coastal region and the Amazon. Seventeen are only reported from the Andes and four are only reported from the Amazon. At the current status of the knowledge, any attempt to analyze and generalize distributional patterns of copepods in Ecuador is premature due to the scarcity of available information, and evidently there is an urgent need for more extensive field collections. A few working hypothesis for future studies are identified

MP-Collaborator: a mobile collaboration tool in pervasive environment

“Copyright © [2009] IEEE. Reprinted from 5th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications. WIMOB 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7695-3841-9 . This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to [email protected]. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.”In modern organizations, the communication between collaborators is essential to improve productivity. There is a need for mobile collaboration tools that allow efficient collaboration among staff in organization which may be located in different geographical areas and time zones. Mobile and pervasive computing provides easy and convenient access to information, enabling effective collaboration. This paper describes a context and location-aware mobile application, called MP-Collaborator, created to improve and optimize the communication between collaborators in any organization. MP- Collaborator draws information from location, user status and Pocket Outlook Calendar to create a user availability profile, which is published to any other user in the network. Based on availability status, the user can be reached using a simple phone call or a message. Through the opportunistic use of available mobile technologies MP-Collaborator provides a simple but critical service - user presence service. The proposed solution is validated both in terms of features and communication through a series of experiments on real devices through Wi-Fi network

Tratamento de Infeções Protésicas com Desbridamento e Preservação do Implante - Resultados da Aplicação Prospetiva de um Protocolo Pré-estabelecido

Objetivo: O tratamento de infeções protésicas é complexo e os resultados do desbridamento com preservação da prótese são frequentemente imprevisíveis. A nossa hipótese é que é possível oferecer uma boa probabilidade de sucesso desde que sejam cumpridas algumas regras simples para correta seleção e tratamento dos doentes. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar os resultados obtidos com a aplicação prospetiva desses pressupostos ao longo dos últimos anos na nossa instituição. Material e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo clínico prospetivo que inclui todos os doentes com infeção protésica tratados desde Janeiro/2012 e com um seguimento mínimo de 12 meses após o fim do tratamento. Apenas foram candidatos ao desbridamento com preservação do implante doentes com prótese estável, sem sinais de descolamento, boa condição de partes moles e curta duração dos sintomas. O desbridamento cirúrgico foi realizado pelo mesmo cirurgião e incluiu sempre troca de partes móveis. Sempre que possível a antibioterapia incluiu fármacos com eficácia para bactérias no biofilme. Resultados: Foram estudados 24 doentes (15 joelhos e 9 ancas) com uma idade média de 65 anos. Um doente foi excluído da analise dos resultados por morte não relacionada. Registaram-se três casos de falência do tratamento o que resulta numa taxa de sucesso de 87% (20/23) com um seguimento médio de 30 meses após o término da antibioterapia. Conclusão: A aplicação de um protocolo pré-estabelecido de tratamento permite a obtenção de bons resultados no tratamento de infeções protésicas mesmo quando se opte pela preservação do implanteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cytoskeleton structure, pattern of mitochondrial activity and ultrastructure of frozen or vitrified sheep embryos.

Even though sheep embryo cryopreservation is a commonly used procedure the survival and pregnancy outcomes can vary greatly. This study investigated whether cryopreservation was causing subtle changes in ultrastructure, mitochondrial activity or cytoskeletal integrity. Sheep embryos were either slow cooled in 1.5 M EG (n = 22), or vitrified in 20% EG + 20% DMSO with 0.5 M sucrose in Open Pulled Straws (OPS) (n = 24). One hour after warming the cryopreserved embryos differed from control embryos in that they had no mitochondrial activity combined with cytoskeletal disorganization and large vesicles. Vitrified embryos also showed many points of cytoskeleton disruption. Ultrastructural alterations resulting from actin filaments disorganization were observed in both cryopreserved groups. This includes areas presenting no cytoplasmic organelles, Golgi complex located far from the nucleus and a decrease of specialized intercellular junctions. Additionally, large vesicles were observed in vitrified morulae and early blastocysts. The alterations after cryopreservation were proportional to embryo quality as assessed using the stereomicroscope. Even in the absence of mitochondrial activity, grade I and II cryopreserved embryos contained mitochondria with normal ultrastructure. Embryos classified as grade I or II in the stereomicroscope revealed mild ultrastructural alterations, meaning that this tool is efficient to evaluate embryos after cryopreservation