4,470 research outputs found
Managing performance in quality management: A two level study of employee-perceptions and workplace-performance
Purpose: This paper addresses potential effects of the control element in Quality Management. First, behavioural theories on how elements of performance management can affect organisational performance are examined. Secondly, theoretical models on how perceptions of work conditions may impact wellbeing and performance are considered. Direct and indirect pathways from performance management to productivity/quality are inferred.
Methodology: Matched employee-workplace data from an economy-wide survey in Britain and two-level structural equation models are used to test the hypothesised associations.
Findings: The use of practices in workplaces is inconsistent with a unified performance management approach. Distinct outcomes are expected from separate components in performance management and some may be contingent on workplace size. For example, within Quality-planning, strategy dissemination is positively associated with workplace-productivity; targets are negatively associated with perceptions of job demands and positively correlated with job satisfaction, which in turn can increase workplace-productivity. With respect to Information & Analysis: keeping and analysing records, or monitoring employee-performance via appraisals that assess training needs, are positively associated with workplace-productivity and quality.
Originality: This paper illustrates how control in Quality Management can be effective. Although the merits of performance management are subject to ongoing debate, arguments in the literature have tended to focus on performance appraisal. Analyses of economy-wide data linking performance management practices, within Quality Management, to employee perceptions of work conditions, wellbeing and aggregate performance are rare
Hamming distance and mobility behavior in generalized rock-paper-scissors models
This work reports on two related investigations of stochastic simulations
which are widely used to study biodiversity and other related issues. We first
deal with the behavior of the Hamming distance under the increase of the number
of species and the size of the lattice, and then investigate how the mobility
of the species contributes to jeopardize biodiversity. The investigations are
based on the standard rules of reproduction, mobility and predation or
competition, which are described by specific rules, guided by generalization of
the rock-paper-scissors game, valid in the case of three species. The results
on the Hamming distance indicate that it engenders universal behavior,
independently of the number of species and the size of the square lattice. The
results on the mobility confirm the prediction that it may destroy diversity,
if it is increased to higher and higher values.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures. To appear in EP
Magnetization profile for impurities in graphene nanoribbons
The magnetic properties of graphene-related materials and in particular the
spin-polarised edge states predicted for pristine graphene nanoribbons (GNRs)
with certain edge geometries have received much attention recently due to a
range of possible technological applications. However, the magnetic properties
of pristine GNRs are not predicted to be particularly robust in the presence of
edge disorder. In this work, we examine the magnetic properties of GNRs doped
with transition-metal atoms using a combination of mean-field Hubbard and
Density Functional Theory techniques. The effect of impurity location on the
magnetic moment of such dopants in GNRs is investigated for the two principal
GNR edge geometries - armchair and zigzag. Moment profiles are calculated
across the width of the ribbon for both substitutional and adsorbed impurities
and regular features are observed for zigzag-edged GNRs in particular. Unlike
the case of edge-state induced magnetisation, the moments of magnetic
impurities embedded in GNRs are found to be particularly stable in the presence
of edge disorder. Our results suggest that the magnetic properties of
transition-metal doped GNRs are far more robust than those with moments arising
intrinsically due to edge geometry.Comment: submitte
Spatial patterns and biodiversity in off-lattice simulations of a cyclic three-species Lotka-Volterra model
Stochastic simulations of cyclic three-species spatial predator-prey models
are usually performed in square lattices with nearest neighbor interactions
starting from random initial conditions. In this Letter we describe the results
of off-lattice Lotka-Volterra stochastic simulations, showing that the
emergence of spiral patterns does occur for sufficiently high values of the
(conserved) total density of individuals. We also investigate the dynamics in
our simulations, finding an empirical relation characterizing the dependence of
the characteristic peak frequency and amplitude on the total density. Finally,
we study the impact of the total density on the extinction probability, showing
how a low population density may jeopardize biodiversity.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures; new version, with new title and figure
PCA Tomography and its application to nearby galactic nuclei
With the development of modern technologies such as IFUs, it is possible to
obtain data cubes in which one produces images with spectral resolution. To
extract information from them can be quite complex, and hence the development
of new methods of data analysis is desirable. We briefly describe a method of
analysis of data cubes (data from single field observations, containing two
spatial and one spectral dimension) that uses Principal Component Analysis
(PCA) to express the data in the form of reduced dimensionality, facilitating
efficient information extraction from very large data sets. We applied the
method, for illustration purpose, to the central region of the low ionization
nuclear emission region (LINER) galaxy NGC 4736, and demonstrate that it has a
type 1 active nucleus, not known before. Furthermore, we show that it is
displaced from the centre of its stellar bulge.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, to be published in the Proceedings of the
IAU Symposium no. 26
Primary and secondary thickening in the stem of Cordyline fruticosa (Agavaceae)
The growth in thickness of monocotyledon stems can be either primary, or primary and secondary. Most of the authors consider this thickening as a result of the PTM (Primary Thickening Meristem) and the STM (Secondary Thickening Meristem) activity. There are differences in the interpretation of which meristem would be responsible for primary thickening. In Cordyline fruticosa the procambium forms two types of vascular bundles: collateral leaf traces (with proto and metaxylem and proto and metaphloem), and concentric cauline bundles (with metaxylem and metaphloem). The procambium also forms the pericycle, the outermost layer of the vascular cylinder consisting of smaller and less intensely colored cells that are divided irregularly to form new vascular bundles. The pericycle continues the procambial activity, but only produces concentric cauline bundles. It was possible to conclude that the pericycle is responsible for the primary thickening of this species. Further away from the apex, the pericyclic cells undergo periclinal divisions and produce a meristematic layer: the secondary thickening meristem. The analysis of serial sections shows that the pericycle and STM are continuous in this species, and it is clear that the STM originates in the pericycle.The endodermis is acknowledged only as the innermost layer of the cortex.O crescimento em espessura do caule de monocotiledônea pode ser primário, ou primário e secundário. A maioria dos autores consideram o espessamento resultante do MEP (Meristema de Espessamento Primário) e do MES (Meristema de Espessamento Secundário). Há divergências de qual seria o meristema responsável pelo espessamento primário. Em Cordyline fruticosa o procâmbio forma feixes vasculares de dois tipos: traços foliares colaterais (com proto e metaxilema e proto e metafloema), e feixes caulinares concêntricos (com metaxilema e metafloema). O procâmbio também forma o periciclo, a camada mais externa do cilindro vascular, constituída por células menores e menos coradas que se dividem irregularmente, formando novos feixes vasculares. O periciclo dá continuidade à atividade procambial, originando somente feixes concêntricos. Concluiu-se ser o periciclo responsável pelo espessamento primário desta espécie. Mais distante do ápice as células pericíclicas passam a sofrer divisões periclinais originando o Meristema de Espessamento Secundário. A análise dos cortes seriados mostra que o periciclo e o MES são contínuos nesta espécie, ficando claro que o periciclo origina oMES. A endoderme é reconhecida, apenas, como a camada mais interna do córtex.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq
Impurity segregation in graphene nanoribbons
The electronic properties of low-dimensional materials can be engineered by
doping, but in the case of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) the proximity of two
symmetry-breaking edges introduces an additional dependence on the location of
an impurity across the width of the ribbon. This introduces energetically
favorable locations for impurities, leading to a degree of spatial segregation
in the impurity concentration. We develop a simple model to calculate the
change in energy of a GNR system with an arbitrary impurity as that impurity is
moved across the ribbon and validate its findings by comparison with ab initio
calculations. Although our results agree with previous works predicting the
dominance of edge disorder in GNR, we argue that the distribution of adsorbed
impurities across a ribbon may be controllable by external factors, namely an
applied electric field. We propose that this control over impurity segregation
may allow manipulation and fine-tuning of the magnetic and transport properties
of GNRs.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitte
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