38,685 research outputs found
A holistic framework for the strategic management of first tier managers.
Purpose – The intention of this research paper is to shed light on the key factors influencing the human resource
management (HRM) performance of first tier managers (FTMs), and the vital importance that a holistic strategic
framework1 can have in this regard.
Design/methodology/approach - The research paper uses an up to date historical approach, and additionally, draws
on detailed case study evidence from an aerospace manufacturing/engineering company via manually and
electronically analysed in-depth semi-structured interview and company documentation.
Findings - The case study findings reveal that the FTM’s HRM performance is greatly influenced by a group
of four key factors, and their interrelationships:
Research limitations – The literature survey was mainly industry specific (manufacturing), and the sample
was restricted to one sector (areospace), as well as one case study organisation. Furthermore, the views of
FTMs’ staff are not directly represented.
Originality – The FTM’s HRM role shows no signs of abating; in addition, questions regarding their
performance of this role have increasingly emerged. This has become more evident as organisations have
continued to expand the FTM’s role by devolving greater HRM responsibilities to them, and their
performance of the role demonstrates that many FTMs are ill equipped to perform their HRM duties to the
required standard. However, the vital importance that a holistic strategic framework (which encompasses the
four key factors influencing their performance) can have on their performance of this role is not
acknowledged. The present research paper, gives an empirical example of a case study, and therefore
provides a springboard to address the weakness in the literature
HR leaders hold the key to effective diversity management: … as more and more important decisions are taken at local level
The article observes that diversity management (DM) is central to the HRM function in work organizations, and the past decade has seen employers seeking to establish more devolved management structures that place more emphasis on local-level managerial decision-making.
An important component of this shift in many organizations has been the reconfiguration of the role of fist-line managerial leader (FLML) to encompass a wider range of HRM responsibilities. Hence, diversity management and leadership in this regard are a key HRM role for leaders and managers
Inexactness of the Hydro-Thermal Coordination Semidefinite Relaxation
Hydro-thermal coordination is the problem of determining the optimal economic
dispatch of hydro and thermal power plants over time. The physics of
hydroelectricity generation is commonly simplified in the literature to account
for its fundamentally nonlinear nature. Advances in convex relaxation theory
have allowed the advent of Shor's semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations of
quadratic models of the problem. This paper shows how a recently published SDP
relaxation is only exact if a very strict condition regarding turbine
efficiency is observed, failing otherwise. It further proposes the use of a set
of convex envelopes as a strategy to successfully obtain a stricter lower bound
of the optimal solution. This strategy is combined with a standard iterative
convex-concave procedure to recover a stationary point of the original
non-convex problem.Comment: Submitted to IEEE PES General Meeting 201
Controlled Shock Shells and Intracluster Fusion Reactions in the Explosion of Large Clusters
The ion phase-space dynamics in the Coulomb explosion of very large ( atoms) deuterium clusters can be tailored using two consecutive
laser pulses with different intensities and an appropriate time delay. For
suitable sets of laser parameters (intensities and delay), large-scale shock
shells form during the explosion, thus highly increasing the probability of
fusion reactions within the single exploding clusters. In order to analyze the
ion dynamics and evaluate the intracluster reaction rate, a one-dimensional
theory is used, which approximately accounts for the electron expulsion from
the clusters. It is found that, for very large clusters (initial radius
100 nm), and optimal laser parameters, the intracluster fusion yield becomes
comparable to the intercluster fusion yield. The validity of the results is
confirmed with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Probability distribution of the order parameter
The probability distribution of the order parameter is exploited in order to
obtain the criticality of magnetic systems. Monte Carlo simulations have been
employed by using single spin flip Metropolis algorithm aided by finite-size
scaling and histogram reweighting techniques. A method is proposed to obtain
this probability distribution even when the transition temperature of the model
is unknown. A test is performed on the two-dimensional spin-1/2 and spin-1
Ising model and the results show that the present procedure can be quite
efficient and accurate to describe the criticality of the system.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Braz. J. Phys. 34, June 200
Autoimmune diabetes recurrence should be routinely monitored after pancreas transplantation
Autoimmune type 1 diabetes recurrence in pancreas grafts was first described 30 years ago, but it is not yet completely understood. In fact, the number of transplants affected and possibly lost due to this disease may be falsely low. There may be insufficient awareness to this entity by clinicians, leading to underdiagnosis. Some authors estimate that half of the immunological losses in pancreas transplantation are due to autoimmunity. Pancreas biopsy is the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis. However, as an invasive procedure, it is not the ideal approach to screen the disease. Pancreatic autoantibodies which may be detected early before graft dysfunction, when searched for, are probably the best initial tool to establish the diagnosis. The purpose of this review is to revisit the autoimmune aspects of type 1 diabetes and to analyse data about the identified autoantibodies, as serological markers of the disease. Therapeutic strategies used to control the disease, though with unsatisfactory results, are also addressed. In addition, the author's own experience with the prospective monitoring of pancreatic autoantibodies after transplantation and its correlation with graft outcome will be discussed
Evidence for quasi-chemically homogeneous evolution of massive stars up to solar metallicity
Long soft gamma ray bursts (LGRBs) are usually associated with the death of
the most massive stars. A large amount of core angular momentum in the phases
preceding the explosion is required to form LGRBs. A very high initial
rotational velocity can provide this angular momentum. Such a velocity strongly
influences the way the star evolves: it is chemically homogeneously mixed and
evolves directly towards the blue part of the HR diagram from the main
sequence. We have shown that chemically homogeneous evolution (CHE) takes place
in the SMC, at low metallicity. We want to see if there is a metallicity
threshold above which such an evolution does not exist. We perform a
spectroscopic analysis of H-rich early-type WN stars in the LMC and the Galaxy.
We use the code CMFGEN to determine the fundamental properties and the surface
composition of the target stars. We then place the stars in the HR diagram and
determine their evolution. We show that both the LMC and Galactic WNh stars we
selected cannot be explained by standard stellar evolution. They are located on
the left of the main sequence but show surface abundances typical of CN
equilibrium. In addition, they still contain a large amount of hydrogen. They
are thus core-H burning objects. Their properties are consistent with CHE. We
determine the metallicity of the Galactic stars from their position and
Galactic metallicity gradients, and conclude that they have 0.6<Z<1.0. A
moderate coupling between the core and the envelope is required to explain that
stellar winds do not extract to much angular momentum to prevent a blueward
evolution. In view of the findings that some long gamma ray bursts appear in
solar environments, CHE may be a viable way to form them over a wide range of
metallicities.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. Accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic
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