In direct breach of managerial edicts: A practice approach to creative deviance in professional service firms

Drawing on practice as a meta-theoretical lens, we explore creative deviance (CD): wilful violation of managerial orders by employee(s) to pursue creative ideas. Data for our inquiry comes from in-depth interviews with middle managers and employees in two professional service firms (PSFs). We argue that two distinct organising processes are necessary for the emergence of CD in practice: organising configuration and formalisation of R&D processes. We develop these dimensions to produce a typology of interrelated ideal types of outcomes when employees are explicitly instructed to stop pursuing an idea. We found three salient organising practices (technical concerns for efficiency and metrics, suppression of metistic knowledge and disjointed managerial responses to violations of sanctioned organising procedures), which may operate in combination or serially, to foster CD in practice. We conclude with some key implications for the theory and practice of creativity in PSFs. © 2018 RADMA and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Gastrointestinal Tract Perforation: MDCT Findings according to the Perforation Sites

Our objective is to describe the characteristic CT findings of gastrointestinal (GI) tract perforations at various levels of the gastrointestinal system. It is beneficial to localize the perforation site as well as to diagnose the presence of bowel perforation for planning the correct surgery. CT has been established as the most valuable imaging technique for identifying the presence, site and cause of the GI tract perforation. The amount and location of extraluminal free air usually differ among various perforation sites. Further, CT findings such as discontinuity of the bowel wall and concentrated free air bubbles in close proximity to the bowel wall can help predict the perforation site. Multidetector CT with the multiplanar reformation images has improved the accuracy of CT for predicting the perforation sites

Radiation dose reduction in thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT using tube current modulation: A phantom study

This phantom study was designed to compare the radiation dose in thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT scans with and without use of tube current modulation (TCM). Effective dose (ED) and size-specific dose estimation (SSDE) were calculated with the absorbed doses measured at selective radiosensitive organs using a thermoluminescence dosimeter-100 (TLD-100). When compared to protocols without TCM, the ED and SSDE were reduced significantly with use of TCM for both the thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT. With use of TCM, the ED was 6.50 ± 0.29 mSv for thoracic and 6.01 ± 0.20 mSv for the abdomen-pelvic CT protocols. However without use of TCM, the ED was 20.07 ± 0.24 mSv and 17.30 ± 0.41 mSv for the thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT protocols, respectively. The corresponding SSDE was 10.18 ± 0.48 mGy and 11.96 ± 0.27 mGy for the thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT protocols with TCM and 31.56 ± 0.43 mGy and 33.23 ± 0.05 mGy, for thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT protocols without TCM, respectively. The highest absorbed dose was measured at the breast with 8.58 ± 0.12 mGy in the TCM protocols and 51.52 ± 14.72 mGy in the protocols without TCM during thoracic CT. In the abdomen-pelvic CT, the absorbed dose was highest at the skin with 9.30 ± 1.28 mGy and 29.99 ± 2.23 mGy in protocols with and without use of TCM, respectively. In conclusion, the TCM technique results in significant dose reduction, thus it is to be highly recommended in routine thoracic and abdomen-pelvic CT

Free abdominal fluid without obvious solid organ injury upon CT imaging: an actual problem or simply over-diagnosing?

Whereas a non-operative approach for hemodynamically stable patients with free intraabdominal fluid in the presence of solid organ injury is generally accepted, the presence of free fluid in the abdomen without evidence of solid organ injury not only presents a challenge for the treating emergency physician but also for the surgeon in charge. Despite recent advances in imaging modalities, with multi-detector computed tomography (CT) (with or without contrast agent) usually the imaging method of choice, diagnosis and interpretation of the results remains difficult. While some studies conclude that CT is highly accurate and relatively specific at diagnosing mesenteric and hollow viscus injury, others studies deem CT to be unreliable. These differences may in part be due to the experience and the interpretation of the radiologist and/or the treating physician or surgeon

Agency Creativity: Teams and Performance: A Conceptual Model Links Agency Teams' Knowledge Utilization, Agency Creativity, and Performance

Agency creativity is a product of team efforts where they interact to share knowledge, skills, and expertise to produce creative campaigns. For an agency, this is an invaluable resource. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, the authors of the current paper propose a conceptual model is proposed that links teams’ knowledge utilization, agency creativity, and performance. By considering incremental and radical creativity, it also builds on the idea that creativity is a multi-dimensional construct. The framework is presented to act as a catalyst upon which to build future empirical research on the nature of team creativity within advertising agencies

Economic Concentration in Agricultural Magazine Publishing: 1993-2002

Agriculture in the United States is a $200+ billion industry, and more than 200 magazines serve it. In this study, I analyzed their advertising revenues from 1993 to 2002 to examine economic concentration by publishing company. A concentration ratio (CR; Bain, 1951) measure (CR4) indicated a tight oligopoly. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI; Scherer & Ross, 1990) showed moderate concentration, but a regression analysis did not show a significant relation between HHI data and average advertising rates. I suggest changes in the agricultural marketplace, new technology, and alternative advertising channels as restraints on the effects of concentration.