The dual pressures of youth and expansion : revisiting stage theories of growth in SMEs

Purpose The authors consider stage theories of human resource management (HRM) to explore how new companies experiencing high levels of growth face the dual pressures of youth and expansion. Design/methodology/approach The firms in this study are a sub-group of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) called “gazelles”. While this is a qualitative study, participants were chosen through a modified random sampling approach that ensures that the sample is representative of a regional population of gazelle firms. Findings New companies experiencing high levels of growth face the challenge of expansion while structurally immature. While the selected companies were ill-equipped in formal knowledge of HR they reacted to rapidly changing conditions and were forced to organisational flexibility meaning that few absolute rules were adopted. Originality/value Gazelle literature tends to focus on impediments to growth, rather than HR staples such as recruiting and retaining staff. But the studied cases showed an acute appreciation by gazelle managers of the value of motivated, skilled staff able to turn their hand to the fluctuating requirements of the fast-growing firm and a desire to establish formal HR mechanisms as part of the response to the stress of growth

The three not-so-wise manoeuvres behind willingess-to-pay calculations

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521Economists seek to value entities that the lay public describe as 'invaluable' or 'priceless' by extrapolating values from responses probing willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA) from the perspective of psychology, arguing that both techniques depend on the rigour of human cognition, a rigour which is generally and systematically absent in the lay public

The price of education in a land where illiteracy means death

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521'Snakes took shelter with men. Snakes did not kill men, men did not kill snakes. It seemed that the end of the world had started.” The words are a rare oral record of the worst environmental disaster in recorded history, which took place in 1970 when a relatively small cyclone combined with a high tide in the bowl-like topography of the Bay of Bengal, and whipped up a huge wall of water which swamped the low lying delta island of Bhola, Bangladesh. As many as half a million were drowned or crushed by the wave. Whe

Leadership and listening: The transformation of School X

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521Leadership is a vague concept that engenders a surprisingly precise mental image. When we think ‘leadership’ we think of more or less ideal ‘types’: Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Churchill, Nelson Mandela – individuals with substantial personal charisma. In the leadership literature charisma is closely associated with theories of transformational leadership, but transformation is possible without charisma. As an organisational psychologist I had the privilege of witnessing a dramatic revival of a large urban high school, driven by a man who neither looked nor sounded like Richard Branson. It was a case I conducted along with research assistant Georgina Cohen as part of a study lead by professors Paul Gollan and Adrian Wilkinson, and funded by the Australian Research Council and industry partner Voice Project. This, briefly, is the story of School X, a school where, in the words of one of the principals was characterised by “blue lights and sirens, and [students] getting carted off”. School X hit the national news more than once for all the wrong reasons, but its successful transformation has barely touched the media.Associated Grant:Australian Research Counci

Research ethics for human research and legal issues

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521This chapter provides an overview of ethical issues presented to researchers working within a university context, in particular in the field of psychology. It covers ethical issues relating to reasons for conducting research, issues relating to expertise and capacity to properly conduct that research, ethical challenges in handling data, developing research design, recruiting and handling participants, and consent. It also considers issues post-project and post-publication.

From romance to rocket science: Speed dating in higher education

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521This article is the first comprehensive review of speed dating in the tertiary sector. While speed dating has its origins as a networking technique to connect singles, it has only more recently made its way into the academy. Since 2005 universities world-wide have begun to adopt speed dating protocols as a tool for building research culture. An extensive review of the brief history of speed dating in university settings indicates that the motivation for organising events tends to fall into six clusters. Each motivation is discussed here, as well as two potential as-yet-unexplored outcomes for research students in academe: increasing wellbeing through improving social relations and aiding the conceptualising of theses. Finally the authors raise the need for further research in this area to establish its real impact and to identify best practices

Effects of caffeine on sleep quality and daytime functioning

Frances O’Callaghan,1 Olav Muurlink,2,3 Natasha Reid4 1School of Applied Psychology, Griffith Health, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia; 2School of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; 3Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia; 4Child Health Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Abstract: Caffeine (particularly in the form of coffee) is one of the most widely consumed stimulants in the world, with 90% of American adults consuming caffeine-infused beverages almost daily. While there is substantial evidence that caffeine enhances performance, caffeine withdrawal leads to deficits at both the individual (eg, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes) and societal (eg, increases in work accidents) level. Scholars for some time have considered that the supposed psychoactive benefits of caffeine may be the result of the mere reversal of deleterious effects of caffeine withdrawal, rather than a net benefit of caffeine ingestion. In this integrative review, we examine evidence illuminating the relationship between caffeine consumption and subsequent quality and quantity of nighttime rest. Secondly, we consider evidence as to whether performance deficits caused by sleep deprivation linked to caffeine can be reversed by caffeine consumption during the subsequent daytime period. Finally, we consider how these two stages can be reconciled in a single model that enables calculation of the net caffeine effect on daytime functioning. The literature highlights a range of positive impacts of caffeine consumption on both physical and cognitive functioning. There are also a number of factors that complicate any conclusions that can be drawn regarding the potential of caffeine to improve performance. Most critically, performance improvements the next day may simply be a result of the reversal of caffeine withdrawal. Animal studies and well-controlled human studies involving high habitual and low habitual users tend to confirm a “net benefit” for caffeine use. Further research, particularly with (necessarily rare) caffeine-naive populations, is required to elucidate the complexities of the relationship between caffeine, sleep, and daytime functioning. However, the convenience of accessing caffeine compared to ensuring adequate restorative sleep means that caffeine has applied advantages that are likely to see its use as a performance “enhancing” substance persist. Keywords: caffeine, daytime functioning, sleep, sleep deprivatio

Work–life interference and gender in the mining and energy industry

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521In the context of the widespread adoption of 12-hour shifts in the male-dominated mining and energy industry, and using data gathered from 2566 unionised mining and energy workers and 1915 partners, we investigate the extent and gendering of work– life interference in that industry. We ask about the ways, if any, in which work–life interference occurs; whether patterns of interference differ between male and female mineworkers; whether patterns of interference differ between mineworkers and their partners; and how working time preferences affect work–life interference among mineworkers and their partners. We find extensive interference, mitigated by predictability and ‘blocks of time’, but these are not enough to offset the impact of the length and rotation of shifts. Gendering takes several forms. The interaction between the domestic and market spheres leads female mine and energy workers to experience greater interference. Long hours and long shifts create significant work–life interference, and part of the burden is shifted to mineworkers’ (mostly female) partners, manifested in shortfalls in full-time labour force participation and in stresses upon the partner. We discuss the implications of the findings for policy and practice.Associated Grant:Australian Research CouncilAssociated Grant Code:LP09907

Circadian gene variants and breast cancer

Muurlink, OT ORCiD: 0000-0002-8251-9521The endogenous and self-sustained circadian rhythm generated and maintained in suprachiasmatic nucleus and peripheral tissues can coordinate various molecular, biochemical and physiological processes in living organisms resulting in the adaptation to environmental cues, e.g. light. Multifactorial breast cancer etiology also involves circadian gene alterations, especially among individuals exposed to light at night. Indeed, shift work that causes circadian disruption has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a probable human carcinogen, group 2A. Thus it seems extremely important to recognize specific susceptible gene variants among around 20 candidate circadian genes that may be linked with breast cancer etiology. The aim of this review was to evaluate recent data investigating a putative link between circadian gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk. We summarize fifteen epidemiological studies, including five studies on shift work that have indicated BMAL1, BMAL2, CLOCK, NPAS2, CRY1, CRY2, PER1, PER3 and TIMELESS as a candidate breast cancer risk variants