Does workplace partnership deliver mutual gains at work?

This paper uses a large matched employer-employee dataset to assess the outcomes of workplace partnership for British firms and workers. Our findings suggest that HR practices associated with direct (non-union based) partnership working such as employee voice mechanisms - defined as direct task-based participation, and improved upwards and downwards communication between management and employees – can deliver mutual gains for both employees and employers. However, some practices associated with partnership such as high levels of job flexibility agreements and team briefing procedures are found to be negatively associated with work-related attitudes and/or organizational performanc

Exploring the relationship between HRM and firm performance: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

Existing literature on human resource management (HRM) practices and firm performance suggests that there is a positive association between the two variables. Most of the studies, however, are based on cross-sectional datasets and only few of them use panel or longitudinal datasets, which better allow the researchers to deal with problems of endogeneity. This paper draws on meta-analysis techniques to estimate the effect size of the relationship between high performance work practices (HPWPs) and firm performance measures based on the available longitudinal studies. We also examine whether the effect is greater for a combination of HPWPs than for individual HPWPs, and for operational performance than for financial performance. The results from statistical aggregation of eight longitudinal HRM-performance studies demonstrate an overall reported correlation of 0.287. Additionally we find that a set of integrated, mutually reinforcing HPWPs has a stronger impact on firm performance than do HRM practices individually and that, this effect is statistically invariant between operational performance and financial performance

Mycobacteria Infection in Incomplete Transverse Myelitis Is Refractory to Steroids: A Pilot Study

Incomplete transverse myelitis (ITM) of unknown origin is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. This prospective, open-label study was undertaken to determine whether antituberculous treatment (ATT) might help patients with ITM whose condition continues to deteriorate despite receiving IV methylprednisolone treatment. The study consisted of 67 patients with steroid-refractory ITM in whom Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was suspected clinically and in whom other known causes of myelopathy were excluded. The study occurred from January 2003 to June 2010. Patients underwent trial chemotherapy with ATT. Efficacy was assessed by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) scoring system, the Barthel Index (BI) and the Hauser Ambulation Index (AI) at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Of the 67 patients enrolled, 51 were assessed and 16 withdrew. At 24 months, 49 patients experienced benefits as indicated by significantly increased ASIA and BI scores. The Hauser AI index also improved with markedly decreased abnormal signals in spinal cord MRI over time. The results from this prospective study provide beneficial clinical and MRI data on the efficacy of ATT in ITM patients and suggests mycobacteria may be an important and neglected cause of myelitis

Are the HR responses of small firms different from large firms in times of recession?

This paper uses British large scale survey data to examine the extent to which the recent financial crisis has affected firms' operational activity, and whether or not the existence of human resource (HR) practices have influenced firms' response to recession and workers' job experience. Our findings suggest that SMEs are more vulnerable during times of economic hardship than larger firms, but those with HR practices have shown more resilience to the downturn. Also, we find that having HR practices increases the likelihood of the firm to adopt organisational measures although the response to recession differs significantly between smaller and larger firms. Finally the results indicate differences in workers' job experience during the recession which is moderated by high and low levels of management formality

The impact of ability-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing HR sub-bundles on employee wellbeing: An examination of nonlinearities and occupational differences in skill levels

Existing research examines the impact of human resource (HR) practices on employee wellbeing by considering each practice in isolation or multiple practices as a bundle, focusing on linear associations. Drawing on the too-much-of-a-good-thing (TMGT) meta-theory, we examine possible nonlinear effects of Ability Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) sub-bundles on job satisfaction and job stress. We, also, examine boundary conditions on whether and how the nature of the identified curvilinear associations varies across employees in high-, medium-, and low-skilled occupations. Using data from the Workplace Employment Relations Study (WERS2011), we uncover an inverse U-shaped association between motivation-enhancing (ME) practices and job satisfaction and a U-shaped association between opportunity-enhancing (OE) practices and job stress. No evidence of a curvilinear ability-enhancing (AE) practices-wellbeing association emerges. Additionally, occupational differences in skills levels moderate the curvilinear ME practices-stress association. Likewise, occupational skills differences moderate the associations between OE practices and job satisfaction, and work stress. There is no suggestion that occupational differences moderate the AE practices-wellbeing association. These findings underline the contingent nature of the TMGT effect and call for a more nuanced investigation of the HR-wellbeing association

The impact of ability-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing HR sub-bundles on employee wellbeing: an examination of nonlinearities and occupational differences in skill levels

Existing research examines the impact of human resource (HR) practices on employee wellbeing by considering each practice in isolation or multiple practices as a bundle, focusing on linear associations. Drawing on the too-much-of-a-good-thing (TMGT) meta-theory, we examine possible nonlinear effects of Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) sub-bundles on job satisfaction and job stress. We, also, examine boundary conditions on whether and how the nature of the identified curvilinear associations varies across employees in high-, medium-, and low-skill occupations. Using data from the Workplace Employment Relations Study (WERS2011), we uncover an inverse U-shaped association between motivation-enhancing (ME) practices and job satisfaction and a U-shaped association between opportunity-enhancing (OE) practices and job stress. No evidence of a curvilinear ability-enhancing (AE) practices-wellbeing association emerges. Additionally, occupational differences in skills levels moderate the curvilinear ME practices-stress association. Likewise, occupational skills differences moderate the associations between OE practices and job satisfaction, and work stress. There is no suggestion that occupational differences moderate the AE practices-wellbeing association. These findings underline the contingent nature of the TMGT effect and call for a more nuanced investigation of the HR-wellbeing association

Advancing national human resource development research: suggestions for multilevel investigations

National human resource development (NHRD) is now an important area of investigation within human resource development with significant growth in publications over 49 years. Scholars have, however, highlighted the need for multilevel approaches to NHRD. We reviewed 192 papers to identify gaps on multilevel theorizing, and we propose a multilevel framework incorporating macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis. We develop principles and guidelines around WHAT, HOW, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY questions to promote multilevel NHRD research. Finally, we discuss research and methodological implications of our review

Observed wintertime tidal and subtidal currents over the continental shelf in the northern South China Sea

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 119 (2014): 5289–5310, doi:10.1002/2014JC009931.Synthesis analyses were performed to examine characteristics of tidal and subtidal currents at eight mooring sites deployed over the northern South China Sea (NSCS) continental shelf in the 2006–2007 and 2009–2010 winters. Rotary spectra and harmonic analysis results showed that observed tidal currents in the NSCS were dominated by baroclinic diurnal tides with phases varying both vertically and horizontally. This feature was supported by the CC-FVCOM results, which demonstrated that the diurnal tidal flow over this shelf was characterized by baroclinic Kelvin waves with vertical phase differences varying in different flow zones. The northeasterly wind-induced southwestward flow prevailed over the NSCS shelf during winter, with episodic appearances of mesoscale eddies and a bottom-intensified buoyancy-driven slope water intrusion. The moored current records captured a warm-core anticyclonic eddy, which originated from the southwestern coast of Taiwan and propagated southwestward along the slope consistent with a combination of β-plane and topographic Rossby waves. The eddy was surface-intensified with a swirl speed of >50 cm/s and a vertical scale of ∼400 m. In absence of eddies and onshore deep slope water intrusion, the observed southwestward flow was highly coherent with the northeasterly wind stress. Observations did not support the existence of the permanent wintertime South China Sea Warm Current (SCSWC). The definition of SCSWC, which was based mainly on thermal wind calculations with assumed level of no motion at the bottom, needs to be interpreted with caution since the observed circulation over the NSCS shelf in winter included both barotropic and baroclinic components.R. Li was supported by the SOA 908 Special Project Foundation of China (908-01-ST07 and 908-01-BC10), the National High Tech Project Foundation (863) of China (2008AA09A401), the Administrator Foundation of South Branch, SOA (0683). The development of FVCOM was funded by the US NSF Office of Polar Programs through grants ARC0712903, ARC0732084, ARC0804029, and ARC1203393.2015-02-1

Rationally Designed Sodium Chromium Vanadium Phosphate Cathodes with Multi-Electron Reaction for Fast-Charging Sodium-Ion Batteries

Sodium super-ionic conductor (NASICON)-structured phosphates are emerging as rising stars as cathodes for sodium-ion batteries. However, they usually suffer from a relatively low capacity due to the limited activated redox couples and low intrinsic electronic conductivity. Herein, a reduced graphene oxide supported NASICON Na3Cr0.5V1.5(PO4)3 cathode (VC/C-G) is designed, which displays ultrafast (up to 50 C) and ultrastable (1 000 cycles at 20 C) Na+ storage properties. The VC/C-G can reach a high energy density of ≈470 W h kg−1 at 0.2 C with a specific capacity of 176 mAh g−1 (equivalent to the theoretical value); this corresponds to a three-electron transfer reaction based on fully activated V5+/V4+, V4+/V3+, V3+/V2+ couples. In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) results disclose a combination of solid-solution reaction and biphasic reaction mechanisms upon cycling. Density functional theory calculations reveal a narrow forbidden-band gap of 1.41 eV and a low Na+ diffusion energy barrier of 0.194 eV. Furthermore, VC/C-G shows excellent fast-charging performance by only taking ≈11 min to reach 80% state of charge. The work provides a widely applicable strategy for realizing multi-electron cathode design for high-performance SIBs

L&D professionals in organisations: much ambition, unfilled promise

This monograph reports a study investigating the roles of learning and development (L&D) professionals in Irish, UK European and US organisations. The study investigates the contextual factors influencing L&D roles in organisations, the strategic and operational roles that L&D professionals play in organisations, the competencies and career trajectories of L&D professionals, the perceptions of multiple internal stakeholders of the effectiveness of L&D and the relationships between context, L&D roles, competencies/expertise, and perceived effectiveness. We gathered data using multiple methods: survey (n=440), Delphi study (n=125) and semi-structured interviews (n=30). The analysis revealed that L&D professionals increasingly respond to a multiplicity of external and internal contextual influences and internal stakeholders perceived the effectiveness of L&D professionals differently with significant gaps in perceptions of what L&D contributes to organisational effectiveness. L&D professionals perform both strategic and operational roles in organisations and they progress through four career levels. Each L&D role and career level requires a distinct and unique set of foundational competencies and L&D expertise. Finally, we found that different contextual predictors were important in explaining the perceived effectiveness of L&D roles and the importance attached to different foundational competencies and areas of L&D expertise. We discuss the implications for theory, research and practice