Palaeobiology of latest Ediacaran phosphorites from the upper Khesen Formation, Khuvsgul Group, northern Mongolia

Microfossil assemblages that include large acritarchs with complex processes, known as Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type acritarchs, are recovered from early Ediacaran successions globally. They are commonly found in shale and chert lithologies, but their diversity and palaeobiological significance is greatest when they are phosphatized. The best-known examples are from the Doushantuo Formation, South China, which preserves over 60 taxa including possible embryonic forms which may represent the oldest fossil animals. Fossils have only been recorded in four Ediacaran phosphorite deposits. Here we report the fifth such occurrence, from phosphorites of the upper Khesen Formation, Khuvsgul Group, northern Mongolia, where preservation rivals that in the Doushantuo Formation. The assemblage includes the likely cyanobacteria Obruchevella delicata, O. magna, O. parvissima and O. valdaica, as well as various Siphonophycus filaments, the possible alga Archaeophycus yunnanensis, and the Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type acritarchs Appendisphaera grandis, A. fragilis, A. tenuis, Cavaspina basiconica, Variomargosphaeridium gracile and V. aculeiparvum, sp. nov. The phosphorites also preserve the multicellular embryo-like taxon Megasphaera, which is represented by M. minuscula sp. nov. and potentially by M. puncticulosa. Geological and chemostratigraphical data suggest a latest Ediacaran age for the Khesen assemblage, immediately prior to the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic boundary. Thus, this is the youngest Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type microfossil assemblage yet described. It extends the range of Appendisphaera, Cavaspina, Megasphaera and Variomargosphaeridium upward by tens of millions of years. The assemblage adds to a growing database of Ediacaran fossils and emphasizes the importance of Mongolian strata to understanding the transition from a broadly microbial Proterozoic Eon to a Phanerozoic Eon where macroscopic animals acted as geobiological agents

The life and scientific work of William R. Evitt (1923-2009)

Occasionally (and fortunately), circumstances and timing combine to allow an individual, almost singlehandedly, to generate a paradigm shift in his or her chosen field of inquiry. William R. (‘Bill’) Evitt (1923-2009) was such a person. During his career as a palaeontologist, Bill Evitt made lasting and profound contributions to the study of both dinoflagellates and trilobites. He had a distinguished, long and varied career, researching first trilobites and techniques in palaeontology before moving on to marine palynomorphs. Bill is undoubtedly best known for his work on dinoflagellates, especially their resting cysts. He worked at three major US universities and spent a highly significant period in the oil industry. Bill's early profound interest in the natural sciences was actively encouraged both by his parents and at school. His alma mater was Johns Hopkins University where, commencing in 1940, he studied chemistry and geology as an undergraduate. He quickly developed a strong vocation in the earth sciences, and became fascinated by the fossiliferous Lower Palaeozoic strata of the northwestern United States. Bill commenced a PhD project on silicified Middle Ordovician trilobites from Virginia in 1943. His doctoral research was interrupted by military service during World War II; Bill served as an aerial photograph interpreter in China in 1944 and 1945, and received the Bronze Star for his excellent work. Upon demobilisation from the US Army Air Force, he resumed work on his PhD and was given significant teaching duties at Johns Hopkins, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He accepted his first professional position, as an instructor in sedimentary geology, at the University of Rochester in late 1948. Here Bill supervised his first two graduate students, and shared a great cameraderie with a highly motivated student body which largely comprised World War II veterans. At Rochester, Bill continued his trilobite research, and was the editor of the Journal of Paleontology between 1953 and 1956. Seeking a new challenge, he joined the Carter Oil Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during 1956. This brought about an irrevocable realignment of his research interests from trilobites to marine palynology. He undertook basic research on aquatic palynomorphs in a very well-resourced laboratory under the direction of one of his most influential mentors, William S. ‘Bill’ Hoffmeister. Bill Evitt visited the influential European palynologists Georges Deflandre and Alfred Eisenack during late 1959 and, while in Tulsa, first developed several groundbreaking hypotheses. He soon realised that the distinctive morphology of certain fossil dinoflagellates, notably the archaeopyle, meant that they represent the resting cyst stage of the life cycle. The archaeopyle clearly allows the excystment of the cell contents, and comprises one or more plate areas. Bill also concluded that spine-bearing palynomorphs, then called hystrichospheres, could be divided into two groups. The largely Palaeozoic spine-bearing palynomorphs are of uncertain biological affinity, and these were termed acritarchs. Moreover, he determined that unequivocal dinoflagellate cysts are all Mesozoic or younger, and that the fossil record of dinoflagellates is highly selective. Bill was always an academic at heart and he joined Stanford University in 1962, where he remained until retiring in 1988. Bill enjoyed getting back into teaching after his six years in industry. During his 26-year tenure at Stanford, Bill continued to revolutionise our understanding of dinoflagellate cysts. He produced many highly influential papers and two major textbooks. The highlights include defining the acritarchs and comprehensively documenting the archaeopyle, together with highly detailed work on the morphology of Nannoceratopsis and Palaeoperidinium pyrophorum using the scanning electron microscope. Bill supervised 11 graduate students while at Stanford University. He organised the Penrose Conference on Modern and Fossil Dinoflagellates in 1978, which was so successful that similar meetings have been held about every four years since that inaugural symposium. Bill also taught many short courses on dinoflagellate cysts aimed at the professional community. Unlike many eminent geologists, Bill actually retired from actively working in the earth sciences. His full retirement was in 1988; after this he worked on only a small number of dinoflagellate cyst projects, including an extensive paper on the genus Palaeoperidinium

Perception of the Attributes and Behavior of Managers through the Prism of Their Gender

Artykuł opiera się na założeniu, że stosunek do ludzi często wynika ze stereotypowego postrzegania innych przez pryzmat cech i postaw, które są przypisywane ze względu na płeć. W artykule podjęto następujący problem badawczy: jakie cechy i zachowania przypisywane są jako typowe dla kobiet i mężczyzn na stanowiskach kierowniczych przez menedżerów. W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań przeprowadzonych w grupie 45 menedżerów reprezentujących sektor przedsiębiorstw. Wykazano, że cechy i zachowania przypisywane kobietom i mężczyznom na stanowiskach kierowniczych korelują z przyjętym w naszej kulturze stereotypem płci. Zmienne wpływające na postrzeganie cech i postaw typowych dla kierowników danej płci to staż pracy i płeć respondentów.The article is based on the assumption that attitudes towards other people are often derived from a tendency to have a stereotypical perception of others focused by a prism of qualities and attitudes that are attached to them because of gender. In the article, the following research problem is put into word: What qualities and attitudes characterize men and women in management positions in the view of the managerial staff? The results of questionnaire research conducted on a group of forty–five managers representing the enterprise sector are presented. The thesis that qualities and attitudes attached to men and women in management positions correlate with gender stereotype as diagnosed for our culture has found confirmation. The variables that significantly grade the perception of qualities and attitudes typical of managerial staff represented by the given gender are job seniority and respondent gender

Motywowanie pracowników do zachowań kreatywnych – perspektywa kadry menadżerskiej

The aim of the article is to identify actions undertaken by Polish managerial staff to stimulate the creative behaviour of employees. The article consists of a theoretical as well as empirical part including the results of survey conducted among 60 representatives of managerial staff. The research results indicate that, to a large extent, employees are not encouraged to show their creative potential by financial tools, or these tools are used within a very limited scope. In the managers’ approach to motivation there is a blurred difference in meaning between motivating to do and providing conditions for doing. Most of them are convinced that the emanation of creativity is a natural, inner need of employees. Thus, therole of the organisation is confined to the provision of conditions in favour of creative activities. At the same time, the respondents in most cases assessed the motivating attempts to make a better use of creative potential as not really effective or non-existent in their workplace environment. The examined managers are aware of the value of employees’ creativity for the organisation, but a considerable part of them do not feel personally responsible for encouraging subordinates to behave creatively.Celem artykułu jest identyfikacja działań motywujących pracowników do zachowań twórczych, podejmowanych przez polską kadrę kierowniczą. Artykuł składa się z części teoripoznawczej oraz empirycznej, zawierającej wyniki badań przeprowadzonych wśród 60 przedstawicieli kadry kierowniczej. Wyniki badań wskazują, że w znacznej części przedsiębiorstw pracownicy nie są zachęcani do wyrażania swojego potencjału kreatywnego przez narzędzia finansowe lub narzędzia te stosowane są w bardzo ograniczonym zakresie. W myśleniu menadżerów o motywowaniu do zachowań twórczych zaciera się granica między „motywowaniem do…” i „tworzeniem warunków do…”. Dominuje przekonanie, żeemanacja kreatywności stanowi naturalną, wewnętrzną potrzebę pracowników, zatem rola organizacji ogranicza się do stwarzania możliwości do działań twórczych. Jednocześnie respondenci w większości przypadków działania motywujące do wykorzystywania potencjału kreatywności ocenili jako mało skuteczne lub stwierdzili, że w ich środowisku pracy ich nie ma. Badani menadżerowie są świadomi wartości kreatywności pracowników dla organizacji, ale znaczna ich część nie odczuwa osobistej odpowiedzialności za zachęcanie podwładnych do zachowań twórczych

Sprawiedliwość jako aksjologiczne kryterium oceny systemu wynagradzania

The article is conceptual and harmonizing in character. It is a voice in the discussion about the axiological foundations of the creation of compensation systems. It is based on the idea that justice is one of the most important characteristics of compensation, one which determines whether that compensation is positively assessed. Compensation that is seen to be fair is an indicator that an employer treats the worker honestly and considers him a partner which, in turn, acts as a strong motivational factor. The article contains the results of analyses of philosophical concepts of justice presented by Rawls and Nozick and indicates the implications of these theories in the practice of compensation management.Artykuł ma charakter koncepcyjny i syntetyzujący. Stanowi głos w dyskusji nad aksjologicznymi fundamentami kształtowania systemów wynagrodzeń. Opiera się na założeniu, że jedną z najważniejszych cech wynagrodzenia decydujących o pozytywnej ocenie dokonanej przez pracowników jest sprawiedliwość. Wynagrodzenie oceniane jako sprawiedliwe stanowi wskaźnik uczciwego i partnerskiego traktowania przez pracodawcę i ma silną moc motywującą. Artykuł zawiera wyniki analizy filozoficznych koncepcji sprawiedliwości J. Rawlsa oraz R. Nozicka oraz wskazuje implikacje tych teorii dla praktyki zarządzania wynagrodzeniami

Key competences of changing organizations — new challenges on the labour market

Artykuł ma charakter syntetyzujący i koncepcyjny. Jego celem jest identyfikacja kluczowych kompetencji organizacji, które w warunkach permanentnej zmiany mogą zapewnić jej przetrwanie i rozwój. Kompetencje są tu rozumiane jako kluczowe zdolności i umiejętności organizacji bazujące na jej zasobach. Autorka podejmuje próbę potwierdzenia tezy, że obecnie istnieją trzy fundamentalne kompetencje wynikające z wymagań stawianych przez otoczenie. Pierwsza z nich to umiejętność zarządzania różnorodnością pokoleniową jako odpowiedź na wyzwania o charakterze demograficznym. Druga to umiejętność zarządzania relacjami z pracownikami przez budowanie ich zaangażowania i lojalności. Kompetencja ta stanowi odpowiedź organizacji na procesy zachodzące na polskim rynku pracy. Trzecia to umiejętność zarządzania kompetencjami pracowników w dobie rewolucji technologicznej określanej mianem 4.0.The article is synthesizing and conceptual. The aim of it is to identify the key competences of the organization, which in the conditions of permanent change determine its survival and development. Competencies are understood as the key abilities and skills of an organization based on its resources. The author attempts to confirm the thesis that there are currently three fundamental competences resulting from the requirements set by the environment. The first is the ability to manage generational diversity as a response to demographic challenges. The second competence is the ability to manage relationships with employees by building their commitment and loyalty. This competence is the organization's response to the processes taking place on the Polish labour market. The third competence is the ability to manage employee competencies in the era of the technological revolution known as 4.0

Paradoxes in the management of human capital in managers’ appraisal

Paradoxes in the management of human capital are the subject of this article. The text contains theory-cognitional part which systematises knowledge about paradoxes in management and empirical part based upon the survey research conducted in the group of 45 Polish managers. The aim of research was the identification of the most important paradoxes in the area of people management in enterprises in the perception of the highest senior staff. Due to the lack of representativeness in the number of participants in experiment, the research had a pilote nature. The results are treated as a starting point to word hypothesis for further and deeper research. The paradoxes in managers’ appraisal are: the necessity of reaching high and measurable effects with simultaneous taking into account humanistic dimension of management on board, building and keeping high level of the engagement of employees loosely related to an employer because of time employment; the necessity to reconcile employee short working time in a company with the provision of access to key information and sensitive organisational knowledge

New trends on the labor market — work in the home office system as perceived by Polish managers

Z powodu pandemii COVID-19 rośnie znaczenie problematyki pracy w systemie home office. Jak pokazują badania, po wybuchu pandemii na pracę zdalną zdecydowało się 67% polskich przedsiębiorstw, które wcześniej nie korzystały z tej formy pracy. Mając na uwadze aktualną sytuację, masowość pracy zdalnej przy stosunkowo niskim poziomie rozpoznania jej konsekwencji i uwarunkowań uzasadnia badania naukowe nad tym sposobem organizacji pracy. Celem teoriopoznawczej części artykułu jest systematyzacja wiedzy na temat pracy w trybie home office, natomiast celem części empirycznej jest diagnoza postaw kadry zarządzającej wobec pracy zdalnej. Wnioskowanie zostało poparte wynikami badań ankietowych.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the problems of the home office work system are growing significantly. Research shows that after the pandemic outbreak in Poland, 67% of enterprises that had not previously used this form of work decided to use it. Considering the current situation, the mass remote work with a relatively low level of recognition of its consequences and conditions justifies scientific research on this method of work organization. The aim of the theoretical part of the article is to systematize knowledge about working in the home office system, while the aim of the empirical part is to diagnose the managers' attitudes of remote work. The conclusions were supported by the results of the survey research

Kompetencje zawodowe kandydatów na pracowników w ocenie pracodawców : na podstawie przedsiębiorców przemysłu maszynowego

Professional competences are the important issue of human resource management. Nowadays, the awareness of employers grows that the quantity of human capital is not as much important as its quality. This raises specific, high expectations towards the candidates for employees, and indirectly towards schools that educate them. The purpose of this article is to get to know the opinions of entrepreneurs on the degree of preparation of graduates of secondary schools and universities for work and their expectations regarding professional competencies of the employed staff. As an example the machine industry has been selected. The presented empirical material has been collected as a part of a wider project carried out by a team of the Institute of Research and Analysis VIVADE, of which the authors are members.Kompetencje zawodowe stanowią istotną kwestię zarządzania zasobami ludzkimi. Obecnie wzrasta świadomość pracodawców, że ilość kapitału ludzkiego nie jest tak ważna, jak jego jakość. Rodzi to określone, wysokie wymagania wobec kandydatów na pracowników i pośrednio w kierunku szkół, które ich kształcą. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest poznanie opinii przedsiębiorców na temat stopnia przygotowania do pracy absolwentów szkół średnich i uczelni wyższych i ich oczekiwań dotyczących profesjonalnych kompetencji zatrudnionego personelu. Jako przykład wybrany został przemysł maszynowy. Przedstawiony materiał empiryczny został zebrany w ramach szerszego projektu realizowanego przez zespół z Instytutu Badań i Analiz VIVADE, którego autorzy artykułu są członkami