Global standardization or national differentiation of HRM practices in multinational companies? A comparison of multinationals in five countries

Drawing on a dataset constructed from a parallel series of nationally representative surveys of multinational companies (MNCs), we compare the performance management (PM) practices of MNCs in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Denmark and Norway. In each country we analyze data relating to MNCs from that country and of the foreign affiliates of US MNCs. We argue that there is evidence of standardization in the nature of practices across countries, particularly evident in the analysis of US MNCs. Standardization of practices among MNCs is also evident in the rather limited variation in practices between US and indigenous MNCs within each country. Moreover, even where there is evidence of variation across and within countries, this cannot be fully explained by adaptation to local institutional constraints but rather can be seen as the product of how distinct national contexts can promote the take-up of practices.The project was supported by a number of funding bodies and research centres: Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (the SSHRC Major Collaborative Research Initiatives, Initiatives on the New Economy and International Opportunities Fund), the Fonds québécois de recherché sur la société et la culture (Équipes and Regroupements stratégiques), the Canada Research Chair on Globalization and Work, the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT); Ireland’s Labour Relations Commission, the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of Limerick Research Office; Spain’s Ministries of Education and Science (Ref. SEJ2007-03096, Award 01/0010/2006) and Science and Innovation (Ref: ECO2009-10287), the Directorate-General for Scientific Investigation of the Madrid region (Award 06/0009/2000), the BBVA Foundation (Ref. 216/06), the Autonomous University of Madrid/Banco Santander (Ref: CEAL-AL/2011-28), IESE Business School; the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (Awards RES-000-23-0305 and RES-062-23-2080); Danish Research Council for Independent Research (FSE) (Ref. 275-09-0146); and the European Commission’s International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (FP7 IRSES-GA-2008-230854 – INTREPID

The Impact on College Students of Service-Learning in After-School Programs

In the United States, the dearth of quality expanded learning opportunities (ELO), such as afterschool and summer programs, has long been recognized as a national concern (DeKanter et al., 2000). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem, as expanded learning opportunities of all kinds became increasingly limited in spring 2020 (Carver & Doohen, 2021). This research evaluated a new service-learning project, Honors Afterschool Clubs, which allows college students to fill ELO needs by creating and leading afterschool clubs for high-needs, low-income youth. By analyzing college student pre- and postexperience surveys, semistructured interviews, and focus groups, the authors evaluated the perceived impacts of this project on college students and their learning. Our preliminary results suggest that in addition to providing an essential service to the community, families, and youth, college participants who lead afterschool clubs perceive an improvement in their self-efficacy, interpersonal skills, and career confidence

Note sur un lot d'amphores du Ve siècle de notre ère à Narbonne (Aude).

International audienceIl s'agit du compte rendu d'une étude céramologique menée à partir d'un lot de mobilier inédit de Narbonne dont l'intérêt réside dans la diversité des produits méditerranéens importés (Afrique du Nord, Méditerranée orientale, péninsule ibérique) au second quart du Ve s. siècle apr. J.-C

Diagnostic performance of ethyl glucuronide in hair for the investigation of alcohol drinking behavior: a comparison with traditional biomarkers

Background: Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair has emerged as a useful biomarker for detecting alcohol abuse and monitoring abstinence. However, there is a need to establish a reliable cutoff value for the detection of chronic and excessive alcohol consumption. Methods: One hundred and twenty-five subjects were classified as teetotalers, low-risk drinkers, at-risk drinkers, or heavy drinkers. The gold standard for subjects' classifications was based on a prospective daily alcohol self-monitoring log. Subjects were followed for a 3-month period. The EtG diagnostic performance was evaluated and compared with carbohydrate-deficient transferring (CDT) and the activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyl-transferase (γGT). Results: A cutoff of >9pg/mg EtG in hair, suggesting an alcohol consumption of >20/30g (at-risk drinkers), and a cutoff of >25pg/mg, suggesting a consumption of >60g (heavy drinkers), were determined by receiver operating characteristic analysis. The EtG diagnostic performance was significantly better (P < 0.05) than any of the traditional biomarkers alone. EtG, as a single biomarker, yielded a stronger or similar diagnostic performance in detecting at-risk or heavy drinkers, respectively, than the best combination of traditional biomarkers (CDT and γGT). The combination of EtG with traditional biomarkers did not improve the diagnostic performance of EtG alone. EtG demonstrated a strong potential to identify heavy alcohol consumption, whereas the traditional biomarkers failed to do so. EtG was not significantly influenced by gender, body mass index, or age. Conclusion: Hair EtG definitively provides an accurate and reliable diagnostic test for detecting chronic and excessive alcohol consumption. The proposed cutoff values can serve as reference for future cutoff recommendations for clinical and forensic us

Simulation du fonctionnement hydrodynamique des milieux humides dans les plaines alluviales

International audienceLa modélisation hydrodynamique est peu utilisée afin de simuler le fonctionnement des milieux humides à l’échelle des plaines alluviales et nécessite souvent de nombreuses données d’entrée souvent difficiles à acquérir. On présente ici un outil de simulation, Accept’Hydro, qui est alimenté par quatre données d’entrée : le modèle numérique d’élévation (IGN), les données piézométriques (banque ADES), l’historique des débits rivières (banque HYDRO), et le réseau hydrographie (BD Carthage). Après l’étape de création automatique du maillage non-uniforme, adapté au domaine étudié, le logiciel génère en sortie les hauteurs d’eau et les vitesses d’écoulement dans la rivière et dans la nappe souterraine, au pas de temps journalier. Les données simulées, sur une période de temps minimal de 10 ans, sont traitées afin de cartographier les milieux humides potentiels en bordure de cours d’eau. De plus, cet outil permet d’intégrer des hypothèses sur l’évolution des débits afin de prendre en compte les modifications dues au change ment climatique, et d’en simuler les impacts sur le fonctionnement hydrologique. On présente ici les résultats d’Accept’Hydro sur la plaine alluviale de la Garonne et ses milieux humides pour la période 2004-2013, dans le département du Tarn-et-Garonne. Dans ce secteur, les simulations prévoient une diminution de la superficie des milieux humides pour l’horizon 2030, en partant d’hypothèses de diminution des débits saisonniers

Accept'Hydro: a tool for evaluating potential wetland areas at floodplain scale.

National audienceAlluvial wetlands have the functions of hydrological regulation and water purification, but are also of interest for preventing flooding and improving the water quality of the natural environment that serves as a reserve for drinking water and biodiversity. Delimiting these areas is often difficult because it involves both the physical characteristics (topography, river morphology etc.) and hydrodynamic characteristics of the porous medium (permeability etc.) The proposed tool, Accept'Hydro, includes a hydrodynamic simulation of the river, the alluvial aquifer and their interaction, and produces maps of alluvial wetlands with using hydrological criteria. The tool's primary step consists of selecting the studied area using Google Maps, which automatically triggers the generation of a non-uniform mesh covering this area, as well as all the inputs needed for the hydrodynamic simulation to run. The hydrodynamic model based on the equations of Peyrard et al. (2008) allows water levels and flow rates in the river and the alluvial aquifer to be simulated with a non-uniform mesh (cells from 1 to 200 metres per side), combined with a good performance in CPU calculation time. The software program allows the impacts of climate change (changes in hydrology and temperature) and/or anthropogenic change on the hydrodynamic functioning of wetlands to be assessed, and the impact of infrastructure and hydropower facilities on the river to be tested

Neuroimaging and Neurolaw: Drawing the Future of Aging

Human brain-aging is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon. Knowledge of the numerous aspects that revolve around it is therefore essential if not only the medical issues, but also the social, psychological, and legal issues related to this phenomenon are to be managed correctly. In the coming decades, it will be necessary to find solutions to the management of the progressive aging of the population so as to increase the number of individuals that achieve successful aging. The aim of this article is to provide a current overview of the physiopathology of brain aging and of the role and perspectives of neuroimaging in this context. The progressive development of neuroimaging has opened new perspectives in clinical and basic research and it has modified the concept of brain aging. Neuroimaging will play an increasingly important role in the definition of the individual's brain aging in every phase of the physiological and pathological process. However, when the process involved in age-related brain cognitive diseases is being investigated, factors that might affect this process on a clinical and behavioral level (genetic susceptibility, risks factors, endocrine changes) cannot be ignored but must, on the contrary, be integrated into a neuroimaging evaluation to ensure a correct and global management, and they are therefore discussed in this article. Neuroimaging appears important to the correct management of age-related brain cognitive diseases not only within a medical perspective, but also legal, according to a wider approach based on development of relationship between neuroscience and law. The term neurolaw, the neologism born from the relationship between these two disciplines, is an emerging field of study, that deals with various issues in the impact of neurosciences on individual rights. Neuroimaging, enhancing the detection of physiological and pathological brain aging, could give an important contribution to the field of neurolaw in elderly where the full control of cognitive and volitional functions is necessary to maintain a whole series of rights linked to legal capacity. For this reason, in order to provide the clinician and researcher with a broad view of the brain-aging process, the role of neurolaw will be introduced into the brain-aging context

Predicting enhanced absorption of light gases in polyethylene using simplified PC-SAFT and SAFT-VR

International audienceAbsorption of light gases in polyethylene (PE) is studied using two versions of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT): SAFT for chain molecules with attractive potentials of variable range (VR) and simplified perturbed-chain (PC) SAFT. Emphasis is placed on the light gases typically present during ethylene polymerisation in the gas-phase reactor (GPR) process. The two approaches are validated using experimental binary-mixture data for gas absorbed in PE, and predictions are made for mixtures of more components. For most cases studied both SAFT versions perform equally well. For the case of ternary mixtures of two gases with PE, it is predicted that the less-volatile of the two gases acts to enhance the absorption of the more-volatile gas, while the more-volatile gas inhibits the absorption of the less-volatile gas. This general behaviour is also predicted in mixtures containing more gases, such as typical reactor mixtures. The magnitude of the effect may vary considerably, depending on the relative proximity of the gas-mixture saturation pressure to the reactor pressure; for example it is predicted that the absorption of ethylene may be approximately doubled if diluent gases, propane or nitrogen, are partially or completely replaced by less-volatile butane or pentane for a reactor pressure similar to 2 MPa. In the case of a co-polymerisation reaction, it is predicted that increases in absorption of both co-monomers may be obtained in roughly equal proportion. Our findings cast light on the so-called co-monomer effect, in which substantial increases in the rate of ethylene polymerisation are observed in the presence of hexene co-monomer, while suggesting that the effect is more general and not restricted to co-monomer. For example, similar rate increases may be expected in the presence of, e.g., pentane instead of hexene, but without the change in the branch structure of the produced polymer that is inevitable when the amount of co-monomer is increased

Revisiting Maya Blue and Designing Hybrid Pigments by Archaeomimetism

Maya Blue is actually one of the best known examples of an organic-inorganic hybrid material. Yet despite 50 years of sustained interest, its microscopic structure and its relation to durability remain open questions. We address the issue by archaeomimetism: engineering an archaeoinspired pigment, satisfactorily reproducing the colour and chemical stability of Maya Blue. By comparing and contrasting ancient pigment and the new analogue, we deduce a new explanation for this durability

Emulsion and liposome-based adjuvanted R21 vaccine formulations mediate protection against malaria through distinct immune mechanisms

Adjuvanted protein vaccines offer high efficacy, yet most potent adjuvants remain proprietary. Several adjuvant compounds are being developed by the Vaccine Formulation Institute in Switzerland for global open access clinical use. In the context of the R21 malaria vaccine, in a mouse challenge model, we characterize the efficacy and mechanism of action of four Vaccine Formulation Institute adjuvants: two liposomal (LQ and LMQ) and two squalene emulsion-based adjuvants (SQ and SMQ), containing QS-21 saponin (Q) and optionally a synthetic TLR4 agonist (M). Two R21 vaccine formulations, R21/LMQ and R21/SQ, offer the highest protection (81%–100%), yet they trigger different innate sensing mechanisms in macrophages with LMQ, but not SQ, activating the NLRP3 inflammasome. The resulting in vivo adaptive responses have a different TH1/TH2 balance and engage divergent innate pathways while retaining high protective efficacy. We describe how modular changes in vaccine formulation allow for the dissection of the underlying immune pathways, enabling future mechanistically informed vaccine design