Knowledge Management in a Distributed Workforce: Implications for Leadership

Over the past decade, the distribution of workers across the country and around the world who work together in various configurations has increased. Work relationships range from being co-located in the same office to working from a virtual office. This paper explores knowledge management in the virtual workforce and best practices for leadership in an increasingly distributed workforce. There is great potential for collaboration within a distributed workforce; however. people need to connect or be connected with each other in order for the collaborative process to flourish. In this project, knowledge management in a distributed workforce was explored among employees who are team members at a large organization (over 30,000 employees). The employees involved specialize in very specific areas of information. This information is well maintained in knowledge management tools developed by the organization. The organization had previously invested in an internal social media platform that would help employees identify which employees could best provide needed information; however, the platforrn was seldom used. Employees were not populating and updating their profiles, which decreased the effectiveness. A survey was taken to identify the factors that influence how people search for information based on proximity to managers/co-workers and social media activity outside of work. The results showed that people who created social media profiles outside of work were not more likely to have created a social profile within the company\u27s internal social media platform. The survey helped team leaders pinpoint how increased use of the internal social media platform could be achieved. The next phase of the project involved increasing employee awareness of how useful the internal social media platform can be. A push was made to communicate to employees on a one-on-one basis. As a part of this project, members of the project team focused on enhancing the ease of searching for and connecting with others through Microsoft Lync and internal profiles. In addition, members of the leadership team have modeled a commitment to completion of internal profiles and enhanced connectedness. A profile template focused on career and skills was developed. Each group was also tasked with the identification of key searchable terms that would allow others to quickly locate them. A section of the profile is dedicated to key terms to enhance the ability to search and locate a person with specific skills or subject matter expertise efficiently and effectively. The goal of the project team is to increase the use of the internal social media platform

In-plane superfluid density and microwave conductivity of the organic superconductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Br: evidence for d-wave pairing and resilient quasiparticles

We report the in-plane microwave surface impedance of a high-quality single crystal of kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Br. In the superconducting state, we find three independent signatures of d-wave pairing: (i) a strong, linear temperature dependence of superfluid density; (ii) deep in the superconducting state the quasiparticle scattering rate Gamma similar to T-3; and (iii) no BCS coherence peak is observed in the quasiparticle conductivity. Above T-c, the Kadowaki-Woods ratio and the temperature dependence of the in-plane conductivity show that the normal state is a Fermi liquid below similar or equal to 23 K, yet resilient quasiparticles dominate the transport up to similar or equal to 50 K

Transference in vitro of the resistance to the antimicrobials between Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp. and Salmonella enteritidis isolated from chickens

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a possibilidade de transferência de resistência aos antimicrobianos entre bactérias normais da microbiota de frangos e Salmonella Enteritidis. Utilizamos amostras de Lactobacillus spp. (L. spp.), Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) e Escherichia coli (E. coli) previamente isolados de frangos, selecionados após prova de sensibilidade antimicrobiana in vitro conforme metodologia padrão (Comitê Nacional para Padrões Clínicos de Laboratório). Utilizamos aqueles com resistência e sensibilidade aos antimicrobianos indutores, chamados de bactérias doadoras e receptoras, respectivamente. Os antimicrobianos indutores foram utilizados para estimular a transferência de resistência aos antimicrobianos entre as bactérias. A possibilidade de transferência foi verificada da E. coli resistente para a SE e L. spp. Também foi verificada a transferência de uma amostra de L. spp resistente aos antimicrobianos indutores para a SE. Só foi possível verificar a transferência da resistência aos antimicrobianos indutores quando a bactéria doadora foi a E. coli e a bactéria receptora foi a SE. No presente estudo concluímos que a transferência de resistência aos antimicrobianos entre bactérias é possível, mas nem todas as bactérias participam desse evento, não transmitindo e nem adquirindo esta resistência.The objective of this work was to verify the possibility of transference of resistance to the antimicrobials between bacteria that are in the present normal microbiota of chickens and Salmonella Enteritidis. Samples of Lactobacillus spp. (L. spp.), Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) previously isolated from chickens, selected after the test of sensitivity antimicrobial in vitro according the standard method (National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards) utilizing those with resistance and sensibility to the antimicrobials inductors, named donor and receptor bacteria, respectively were used. Antimicrobials inductors were utilized to stimulate the transference of resistance to the antimicrobials between the bacteria. The possibility of transference was verified from the E. coli resistant to the SE and L. spp. Transference of a sample of L. spp resistant to the antimicrobials inductors to the SE was also verified. It was only possible to verify the transference of the resistance to the antimicrobials inductor when the donor bacteria was the E. coli and the bacteria receptor was SE. In the present study we conclude that the transference of resistance to the antimicrobials between bacteria is possible, however, not all bacteria participate in that trial, not transmitting and neither acquiring this resistance