Chinese and Irish professional service firms compared: linking HPWS, organizational coordination, and firm performance

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is an important influence on organizational performance. Previous research has established the positive impact of a specific set SHRM practices – known as high performance work systems (HPWS) - on firm performance. This study furthers our understanding of the performance impact of HPWS by: (a) proposing organisational co-ordination as a unique process-based mediator between HPWS and firm performance and (b) examining the impact of national cultural differences on the relationship between HPWS and organisational performance. Data were collected from 98 Chinese and 93 Irish accounting firms. The findings support the mediating role of organizational coordination in the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. Additionally, we found the effects of organizational coordination were stronger in the high power distance and collectivistic culture of China than in the low power distance and individualistic culture of Ireland. Implications are discusse

SARS-CoV-2 bivalent mRNA vaccine with broad protection against variants of concern

IntroductionThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant has rapidly spread around the globe. With a substantial number of mutations in its Spike protein, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is prone to immune evasion and led to the reduced efficacy of approved vaccines. Thus, emerging variants have brought new challenges to the prevention of COVID-19 and updated vaccines are urgently needed to provide better protection against the Omicron variant or other highly mutated variants.Materials and methodsHere, we developed a novel bivalent mRNA vaccine, RBMRNA-405, comprising a 1:1 mix of mRNAs encoding both Delta-derived and Omicron-derived Spike proteins. We evaluated the immunogenicity of RBMRNA-405 in BALB/c mice and compared the antibody response and prophylactic efficacy induced by monovalent Delta or Omicron-specific vaccine with the bivalent RBMRNA-405 vaccine in the SARSCoV-2 variant challenge.ResultsResults showed that the RBMRNA-405 vaccine could generate broader neutralizing antibody responses against both Wuhan-Hu-1 and other SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Delta, Omicron, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. RBMRNA-405 efficiently blocked infectious viral replication and lung injury in both Omicron- and Delta-challenged K18-ACE2 mice.ConclusionOur data suggest that RBMRNA-405 is a promising bivalent SARS-CoV-2 vaccine with broad-spectrum efficacy for further clinical development

An approach to the representation of service process design

Process thinking has been recognized as a major approach to operations management. In many industries, organizations are realizing that the effectiveness and efficiency of operations are highly dependent on the quality of their operational processes. Process thinking in service operations management requires that service processes be well designed and documented, and accordingly be implemented. The design of service process becomes very important to the overall success of an organization in the marketplace, particularly in dealing with dynamic and rapid changes in the business environment. Regarding service process design, representation is an important and basic issue that should be addressed. The blueprint of a service process is crucial for documentation, validation and communication among different functional parties involved in the service process design and operation management. This thesis research aims at developing an approach to the design representation of service processes. To achieve this goal, a normative frame of reference for service process design and representation is first described. In the framework, the aspects of a service process are systematically explained from the points of view of importance to service process design and representation. We assert that each aspect of a service process requires special treatment in service process design. The framework maintains that a service process is a goal-achieving system where customer participation is treated as an integral part and that service process design and representation should include not only 1) the aspects of employees' work but also 2) customer participation and 3) the process output - a service. Customer participation is of particular value, because the service operations, differing from manufacturing systems that focus on employees' work, involve the customer service experiences. This research establishes a theoretical framework for service process design and representation by which a systematic service process can be understood and designed, as well as a design representation language comprising syntax and semantics can be developed. It has been accepted that well-defined syntax and semantics are critical in the representation of real world with consistent form and understanding in meaning for a certain purpose. For service process design, we develop a representation language of well-defined syntax and semantics that can produce a visual diagrammatic representation of a service process design. Such a development takes into consideration the requirements on representation language, the proposed conceptual framework, object-oriented modeling methodology, and the existent process modeling methods. This language provides the common constructs that collectively form the essential basis of a service process representation. To illustrate how the proposed language works, an example of a canteen service process design is presented, showing that the language facilitates an integrated design representation of a service process. The proposed representation language has the following features: design guide for service process, well-defined syntax and semantics, diagram-based representation, integrated representation of multiple perspectives, and the adoption of object-oriented modeling methodology. Notwithstanding the design representation of a service process cannot guarantee that service operations will be successful and a service will be excellent, clarity in representation is necessary for organizations to achieve good operations performance

Mapping customers' service experience for operations improvement

The growing importance of the service sector in almost every economy in the world has created a significant amount of interest in service operations. In practice, many service sectors have sought and made use of various enhancement programs to improve their operations and performance in an attempt to hold competitive success. As most researchers recognize, service operations link with customers. The customers as participants act in the service operations system driven by the goal of sufficing his/her added values. This is one of the distinctive features of service production and consumption. In the paper, first, we propose the idea of service operations improvement by mapping objectively the service experience of customers from the view of customer journey. Second, a portraying scheme of service experience of customers based on the IDEF3 technique is proposed, and last, some implications on service operations improvement are given

α-Linolenic Acid Screened by Molecular Docking Attenuates Inflammation by Regulating Th1/Th2 Imbalance in Ovalbumin-Induced Mice of Allergic Rhinitis

α-Linolenic acid (ALA) is a natural essential fatty acid widely found in plant seed oils and beans, which shows positive anti-inflammatory and antiallergic effects. In our previous study, ALA was proven to bind tightly to the seven protein targets closely associated with allergic rhinitis (AR) by molecular docking, which indicates that ALA may have a potential role in the treatment of AR. A mouse model of AR induced by ovalbumin (OVA) was adopted in this study to explore the therapeutical effect and potential mechanism of ALA in treating AR. Results demonstrated that ALA remarkably relieved the nasal symptoms, reduced the OVA-sIgE level in the serum, relieved the histopathological injuries, and downregulated the mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and IL-1β in the nasal mucosa. ALA also remarkably moderated the imbalance of Th1/Th2 cells, increased the mRNA expression levels of T-bet and STAT1, and reduced GATA3 and STAT6. ALA was proven to have a substantial therapeutic effect on mice with AR, and the underlying mechanism was likely to be the regulation of Th1/Th2 imbalance through the JAK/T-bet/STAT1 and JAK/GATA3/STAT6 pathways. This study provides a specific experimental basis for the clinical use and drug development of ALA in the treatment of AR