The dynamics of leader technical competence, subordinate learning, and innovative work behaviors in high-tech, knowledge-based industry

This study tests a conceptual model for understanding the relationship between subordinates’ ‘learning work behaviour’ and ‘innovative work behaviour’, with the moderating role of their leaders’ self-reported as well as subordinates’ rated ‘leader technical competence’. The study was conducted in the context of a high-tech, knowledge-based telecommunications industry. Based on the evaluation of job description, leaders/managers with responsibilities of not only managing internal and external stakeholders but also capable to lead engineers to resolve any technical issue multiple-source data were collected from the identified leaders and their respective subordinates working with telecommunication operator (n¼179). This study proposed a three-way interaction moderation model between the independent variable (subordinate learning work behaviour) and the moderator variables (that is, the self-assessed leaders’ ‘technical competence’ and subordinates’ rated ‘leader’ technical competence’) to predict the subordinates’ ‘innovative work behaviour’. Our results demonstrate that that subordinate learning work behaviour had the strongest positive relationship with subordinate innovative work behaviour when both the leader self-assessment of technical competence and the subordinates rated leader’s technical competence were high. This study fills an important gap in leadership literature by focussing on the technical competence of leaders which has received little attention from leadership research in knowledge-based industries

How moral efficacy and moral attentiveness moderate the effect of abusive supervision on moral courage?

Moral courage is a competency exercised in the workplace as employees face ethical challenges with a moral response. Managers exert considerable effort to foster subordinates’ moral courage given its positive organisational consequences. However abusive supervision, not uncommon in the organisational context, negatively affects moral courage. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between abusive supervision and moral courage as well as to test the moderating roles of moral efficacy and moral attentiveness on that very relationship. Data were collected from six public hospitals in Pakistan. The sample included 359 nurses and 121 nurse heads. The moderating roles were tested using the moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Results revealed that there was a significant negative relationship between abusive supervision and moral courage. In addition, this very relation was weaker when both moral efficacy and moral attentiveness were higher than when they were lower. The study provided new insights into the influence that abusive supervision might have on nurses’ moral courage and it also offered a practical assistance to employees in the health care industry and their leaders that moral efficacy and moral attentiveness would act as neutralisers in mitigating the pernicious effect of abusive supervision on nurses’ moral courage

An Analysis of the Relationships among Exports, Imports, Physical Capital and Economic Growth in Pakistan

This review emphasized the relationship among capital formation, economic growth, exports and imports in case of Pakistan scenario using time series data from 1976 to 2015. Augmented Dickey Fuller Test, Johansen Co-integration, Vector error correction model and Granger Causality techniques have been used to check the relationships among exports, imports and economic growth. The results from this study show that the exports, imports, real GDP and gross fixed capital formation have a long run relationship and are co-integrated. This study uses the data of Pakistan and concludes that GDP doesn’t granger cause with the export and import while export and imports do granger cause with the GDP in the long run. Finding of the study also displays that physical capital formation has no impression over GDP. Previous study shows the positive relation among exports, imports, capital formation and economic growth while this study shows that in the long run capital formation and economic growth has no effect. Government subsidizes the exports and also increases the duty bills on imports that help boost the domestic industries manufacture the goods and motivate to produce the best quality of goods. JEL codes: F2, O4

Does transformational leadership foster innovative work behavior? The roles of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement

This study examines how transformational leadership relates to employee’s innovative work behavior through intrinsic motivation, psychological empowerment, and creative process engagement. On the basis of an interactional approach, this study hypothesized that (a) there is an interaction between transformational leadership, intrinsic motivation, and psychological empowerment, such that transformational leadership has the strongest positive relationship with innovative work behavior when employees have high levels of intrinsic motivation and psychological empowerment; and (b) creative process engagement mediates the effect that this three-way interaction between transformational leadership, intrinsic motivation, and psychological empowerment has on innovative work behavior. In Study 1, we used a time-lagged research design, collecting multi-source data from 347 software engineers and their respective supervisors, working in IT companies in China. The results of Study 1 supported our hypotheses. In Study 2, we used a more temporally rigorous research design in which data were collected in three stages, with a six-month time interval separating Stages 1 and 2, and Stages 2 and 3. On the basis of the time- lagged and multi-source data from 393 software engineers and their respective supervisors, from IT companies in Pakistan, we found that Study 2 produced the same results as Study 1

Is organizational commitment-job satisfaction relationship necessary for organizational commitment-citizenship behavior relationships? A Meta-Analytical Necessary Condition Analysis

Meta-analyses on the relationships of organisational commitment (OC), job satisfaction (JS) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) have been used to assess necessity of one another by evaluating their causality through the notion of sufficiency. This study applies necessity condition analysis (NCA) on r values collected from a systematic review of the relation- ship between OC, JS, and OCB and tests their relations under the notion of necessity. Two meta-analyses were performed on 140 error adjusted effects reported from 70 studies which fulfilled study’s selection and inclusion criteria. Meta-analytical results provided positive and significant OC–JS ( r¼0.546) and OC–OCB ( r¼0.374) relationships. NCA scatterplot, statistics, and bottleneck analysis confirmed the necessity of OC–JS relationship for medium and high level of the desired OC–OCB relation. This study fulfilled the literature gap on the mutual relationship of OC, JS, and OCB by focusing on the notion of necessity rather than the traditional employed notion of sufficiency through a novel method that is testing necessity hypotheses through meta-analyses. For researchers, this method provides a novel approach to analyse meta-analytical data, while enabling practitioners for identifying and focusing on necessary relation- ships rather than diverging their energies and resources on factors that partially affect the outcomes

Field Assessment of Non-nuclear Methods Used for Hot Mix Asphalt Density Measurement

Destructive nature along with the associated higher cost of the traditional core method used for hot mix asphalt density measurement has convinced researchers switching to some non-destructive technique for this purpose which is cost efficient as well. Earlier, nuclear density gauges were introduced for this purpose which was non-destructive as well. Since such devices were associated with the use of gamma rays, therefore, leading to safety and health issues. Last decade observed a revolution in asphalt density measurement technique with the evolution of non-nuclear density gauges. This research work is carried out with the objective to determine the efficiency and accuracy of a newly developed non-nuclear density gauge i.e. PQI-380 for field conditions as it needs its thorough evaluation prior to future uses in many of the developing countries including Pakistan. Density data obtained using standard core method and non-nuclear density gauge for 195 location confirms the satisfactory performance of the instrument. Results obtained show that the coefficient of correlation is near to 0.9. which refers to a strong correlation between the density data. Moreover, performance criteria e.g. root mean square error and mean absolute error between the density data set is also very low confirming the good measuring abilities of the device. Instrument performed well for repeatability analysis giving maximum coefficient of variance less than 5 percent

Anomalous Origin of a Right Coronary Artery from Pulmonary Artery

Congenital defects of the coronary arteries are noted in 0.2–1.4% of the general population. The first case of an anomalous origin of right coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) was described by Brooks in 1885. ARCAPA has an overall incidence of 0.002% in the general population. Most of the cases are asymptomatic; however, it can lead to serious complications such as heart failure, ischemia, and sudden death. A 57-year-old man presented to the cardiologist’s office with complaints of shortness of breath and fatigue. The patient also had a previous history of coronary stents and heart failure. Initially, he was evaluated with a stress test which was reported as abnormal. The patient then underwent an invasive coronary angiography that revealed anomalous origin of the right coronary artery (RCA) and multivessel disease. Cardiothoracic surgery evaluated the patient and coronary artery bypass graft was performed. During the surgery, the anomalous origin of RCA from the pulmonary artery was identified and was successfully corrected by reimplanting the RCA into the ascending aorta. The anomalous origin of RCA is a rare yet life-threatening condition. The RCA due to its location of origin from the pulmonary artery tends to be a low-pressure vessel with a very thin and fragile wall. It also serves as a retrograde venous conduit from the left coronary circulation into the pulmonary artery. This connection results in a left-to-right shunt that explains the increase in oxygen saturation in the pulmonary artery and the high cardiac output which is normally seen in these cases. The clinical presentation can vary from coronary ischemia to heart failure or sudden death. Therefore, surgical correction is recommended even in asymptomatic patients. We present a case of an anomalous origin of RCA from the pulmonary artery which, unlike the origin of left coronary from pulmonary artery, is very rare. Patients with this condition should have early correction even if they are asymptomatic in order to prevent long-term complications

Blood urea nitrogen as an early predictor of severity in acute pancreatitis

Background: Acute pancreatitis presents as acute abdominal pain and is usually associated with raised pancreatic enzyme levels in the blood or urine. Aims and objectives of the study was to evaluate the role of serial BUN measurement as an early prognostic marker of acute pancreatitis.Methods: From each patient detailed history was taken, general and systemic examination were done and relevant investigations were conducted. BUN was repeated after 24 hours and the change in the level of BUN was noted. Imaging in the form of CT after 72 hours of admission were performed in each patient. The severity of acute pancreatitis was gauged by modified CTSI and the same was compared to the change in BUN values over first 24 hours of admission.Results: Mean BUN values at ‘0’ hour in severe acute pancreatitis and non-severe acute pancreatitis were 31.91±6.79 and 15.44±5.95 mg/dl, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant with p value of <0.001. Similarly, the difference in BUN values at ‘24’ hours between the two groups was statistically significant. BUN value ≥23 mg/dl at ‘0’ hour was found to be the optimal cut off for determining the severity of pancreatitis with sensitivity of 91.3%. BUN ≥25 mg/dl at 24 hours was found to be the optimal cut-off for determining the severity of acute pancreatitis with sensitivity of 95.7%.Conclusions: BUN as a single marker for acute pancreatitis can be useful as it is easy to perform and cheap marker to predict severity without the need for complex calculations.