Organizational error management culture and its impact on performance: a two study replication

The authors argue that a high-organizational error management culture, conceptualized to include norms and common practices in organizations (e.g., communicating about errors, detecting, analyzing, and correcting errors quickly), is pivotal to the reduction of negative and the promotion of positive error consequences. Organizational error management culture was positively related to firm performance across 2 studies conducted in 2 different European countries. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional data from 65 Dutch organizations, Study 1 revealed that organizational error management culture was significantly correlated with both organizational goal achievement and an objective indicator of economic performance. This finding was confirmed in Study 2, using change-of-profitability data from 47 German organizations. The results suggest that organizations may want to introduce organizational error management as a way to boost firm performance

Predicting Landscape-Scale CO 2 Flux at a Pasture and Rice Paddy with Long-Term Hyperspectral Canopy Reflectance Measurements

Measurements of hyperspectral canopy reflectance provide a detailed snapshot of information regarding canopy biochemistry, structure and physiology. In this study, we collected 5 years of repeated canopy hyperspectral reflectance measurements for a total of over 100 site visits within the flux footprints of two eddy covariance towers at a pasture and rice paddy in northern California. The vegetation at both sites exhibited dynamic phenology, with significant interannual variability in the timing of seasonal patterns that propagated into interannual variability in measured hyperspectral reflectance. We used partial least-squares regression (PLSR) modeling to leverage the information contained within the entire canopy reflectance spectra (400–900 nm) in order to investigate questions regarding the connection between measured hyperspectral reflectance and landscape-scale fluxes of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and gross primary productivity (GPP) across multiple timescales, from instantaneous flux to monthly integrated flux

Stress in agile software development : practices and outcomes

Stress is an important workplace issue, affecting both the health of individuals, and the health of organizations. Early advocacy for Agile Software Development suggested it might help avoid stress, with practices that emphasize a sustainable pace, and self-organizing teams. Our analysis of a 2014 survey, however, suggested that stress might still be commonplace in Agile teams, especially for those with less experience. We also noticed that newcomers to Agile emphasized technical, rather than collaborative, practices, and speculated this might explain the stress. We explored this in our analysis of a follow-up survey conducted in 2016, and report our findings in this paper. We show that there are a variety of factors involved, and that avoiding stress is associated with both collaborative and technical practices, and a range of outcomes

Maximizing the good and minimizing the bad: relationships in organizations

In this chapter we introduce the complexities of relationships in organizations, and outline why they are important to study. We discuss the main themes of this book providing a brief overview of the chapters and making links between them. The chapters canvas a wide range of organizational relationships, both positive and fruitful, and dysfunctional and damaging

The importance of calcium and amorphous silica for arctic soil CO₂ production

Future warming of the Arctic not only threatens to destabilize the enormous pool of organic carbon accumulated in permafrost soils but may also mobilize elements such as calcium (Ca) or silicon (Si). While for Greenlandic soils, it was recently shown that both elements may have a strong effect on carbon dioxide (CO2) production with Ca strongly decreasing and Si increasing CO2 production, little is known about the effects of Si and Ca on carbon cycle processes in soils from Siberia, the Canadian Shield, or Alaska. In this study, we incubated five different soils (rich organic soil from the Canadian Shield and from Siberia (one from the top and one from the deeper soil layer) and one acidic and one non-acidic soil from Alaska) for 6 months under both drained and waterlogged conditions and at different Ca and amorphous Si (ASi) concentrations. Our results show a strong decrease in soil CO2 production for all soils under both drained and waterlogged conditions with increasing Ca concentrations. The ASi effect was not clear across the different soils used, with soil CO2 production increasing, decreasing, or not being significantly affected depending on the soil type and if the soils were initially drained or waterlogged. We found no methane production in any of the soils regardless of treatment. Taking into account the predicted change in Si and Ca availability under a future warmer Arctic climate, the associated fertilization effects would imply potentially lower greenhouse gas production from Siberia and slightly increased greenhouse gas emissions from the Canadian Shield. Including Ca as a controlling factor for Arctic soil CO2 production rates may, therefore, reduces uncertainties in modeling future scenarios on how Arctic regions may respond to climate change

Theory of 'which path' dephasing in single electron interference due to trace in conductive environment

A single-electron two-path interference (Young) experiment is considered theoretically. The decoherence of an electron wave packet due to the 'which path' trace left in the conducting (metallic) plate placed under the electron trajectories is calculated using the many-body quantum description of the electron gas reservoir.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, moderate changes, 1 new figure, updated reference

Managing your feelings at work, for a reason : the role of individual motives in affect regulation for performance-related outcomes at work

Affect regulation matters in organizations, but research has predominantly focused on how employees regulate their feelings. Here, we investigate the motives for why employees regulate their feelings. We assess employees’ engagement in affect regulation based on distinct motives and investigate their implications for performance-related outcomes. We develop a framework and measure for distinct types of motivated affect regulation at work, comprising hedonic affect regulation (motive to feel better), task-related affect regulation (motive to reach an achievement-related goal), and social affect regulation (motive to get along with others). Study 1 (N = 621 employees) indicated each type of motivated affect regulation was distinct from the others. In Study 2 (N = 80 employees; n = 821 observations), in line with our theorizing, hedonic and task-related affect regulation were both positively associated with performance-related outcomes via perceived affect-regulation success. In addition, the link between task-related affect regulation and perceived affect-regulation success was strongest for those individuals who habitually engage in deep acting. By contrast, social affect regulation did not predict perceived affect-regulation success or performance-related outcomes. Understanding why employees choose to manage their feelings advances insights on individual motives in employee behavior and provides new avenues for improving performance outcomes in organizations

Not all coping strategies are created equal: a mixed methods study exploring physicians' self reported coping strategies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physicians experience workplace stress and draw on different coping strategies. The primary goal of this paper is to use interview data to explore physicians' self reported coping strategies. In addition, questionnaire data is utilized to explore the degree to which the coping strategies are used and are associated with feelings of emotional exhaustion, a key symptom of burnout.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This mixed methods study explores factors related to physician wellness within a large health region in Western Canada. This paper focuses on the coping strategies that physicians use in response to work-related stress. The qualitative component explores physicians' self reported coping strategies through open ended interviews of 42 physicians representing diverse medical specialties and settings (91% response rate). The major themes extracted from the qualitative interviews were used to construct 12 survey items that were included in the comprehensive quantitative questionnaire. Questionnaires were sent to all eligible physicians in the health region with 1178 completed surveys (40% response rate.) Questionnaire items were used to measure how often physicians draw on the various coping strategies. Feelings of burnout were also measured in the survey by 5 items from the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the revised Maslach Burnout Inventory.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Major themes identified from the interviews include coping strategies used at work (e.g., working through stress, talking with co-workers, taking a time out, using humor) and after work (e.g., exercise, quiet time, spending time with family). Analysis of the questionnaire data showed three often used workplace coping strategies were positively correlated with feeling emotionally exhausted (i.e., keeping stress to oneself (r = .23), concentrating on what to do next (r = .16), and going on as if nothing happened (r = .07)). Some less often used workplace coping strategies (e.g., taking a time out) and all those used after work were negatively correlated with frequency of emotional exhaustion.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Physicians' self reported coping strategies are not all created equal in terms of frequency of use and correlation with feeling emotionally exhausted from one's work. This knowledge may be integrated into practical physician stress reduction interventions.</p

Workdays, in-between workdays and the weekend: a diary study on effort and recovery

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