Subcritical and supercritical granular flow around an obstacle on a rough inclined plane

A blunt obstacle in the path of a rapid granular avalanche generates a bow shock (a jump in the avalanche thickness and velocity), a region of static grains upstream of the obstacle, and a grain-free region downstream. Here, it is shown that this interaction is qualitatively altered if the incline on which the avalanche is flowing is changed from smooth to rough. On a rough incline, the friction between the grains and the incline depends on the flow thickness and speed, which allows both rapid (supercritical) and slow (subcritical) steady uniform avalanches. For supercritical experimental flows, the material is diverted around a blunt obstacle by the formation of a bow shock and a static dead zone upstream of the obstacle. Downslope, a grain-free vacuum region forms, but, in contrast to flows on smooth beds, static levees form at the boundary between the vacuum region and the flow. In slower, subcritical, flows the flow is diverted smoothly around the dead zone and the obstacle without forming a bow shock. After the avalanche stops, signatures of the dead zone, levees and (in subcritical flows) a deeper region upslope of the obstacle are frozen into the deposit. To capture this behaviour, numerical simulations are performed with a depth-averaged avalanche model that includes frictional hysteresis and depth-averaged viscous terms, which are needed to accurately model the flowing and deposited regions. These results may be directly relevant to geophysical mass flows and snow avalanches, which flow over rough terrain and may impact barriers or other infrastructure

What Works Wellbeing: A guide to our evidence review methods

A guide to the systematic review method adopted by the national research centre for What Works Wellbein

Well-being through learning: a systematic review of learning interventions in the workplace and their impact on well-being

The view that learning is central to well-being is widely held and the workplace is an important setting in which learning takes place. Evaluations of the effectiveness of well-being interventions in work settings are commonplace, but to date, there has been no systematic review of the effectiveness of learning interventions with regard to their impact on well-being. The review synthesizes evidence from 41 intervention studies, and although no studies report a negative impact on well-being, 14 show no effect on well-being, with 27 studies having a positive impact. We classify the studies according to the primary purpose of the learning intervention: to develop personal resources for well-being through learning; to develop professional capabilities through learning; to develop leadership skills through learning; and to improve organizational effectiveness through organizational-level learning. Although there is an abundance of workplace learning interventions, few are evaluated from a well-being perspective despite the commonly held assumption that learning yields positive emotional and psychological outcomes. The evidence indicates an important gap in our evaluation of and design of workplace learning interventions and their impact on well-being, beyond those focusing on personal resources. This raises important theoretical and practical challenges concerning the relationship between learning and well-being in the context of professional capability enhancement, leadership capability and organizational learning

The effects of market economy and foreign MNE subsidiaries on the convergence and divergence of HRM

This study explores patterns of human resource management (HRM) practices across market economies, and between indigenous firms and foreign MNE subsidiary operations, offering a novel perspective on convergence and divergence. Applying institutional theorizing to improve our understanding of convergence/ divergence as a process and an outcome, data collected from nine countries at three points in time over a decade confirm that convergence and divergence occur to different extents in a non-linear fashion, and vary depending on the area of HRM practice observed. Patterns of adoption and convergence/ divergence are explained through the effect of institutional constraints, which vary between liberal and coordinated market economies, and between indigenous firms and foreign MNE subsidiaries. The study contributes a more graded conceptualization of convergence/ divergence, which reflects the complex dynamic reality of international business

Democratisation of wellbeing: stakeholder perspectives on policy priorities for improving national wellbeing through paid employment and adult learning

Recent policy initiatives in the UK have heightened the degree to which wellbeing can be considered a political construct: The acceptance of different policy options for wellbeing depends on the extent to which those options are responsive to popular wellbeing concerns. Drawing on the views of over 400 people gathered through a variety of methods and across the UK, we outline different stakeholder views of what wellbeing is and the priorities that stakeholders believe should be addressed to improve wellbeing. We draw out the implications for reframing policy debates around wellbeing, the practice of career guidance, academic debates around identified wellbeing priorities, and the best means of developing a policy and a practice-oriented and stakeholder-responsive approach to researching wellbeing

Externalizing, internalizing and fostering commitment: the case of born-global firms in emerging economies

This paper examines the HR practices of mature born-global firms from twenty-nine emerging economies. Through an examination of large scale survey data the paper questions the extent to which firm size impacts the employment of temporary workers, the employment of skilled workers and the extent of employee training. Findings suggest that as firm size increases the use of temporary workers decreases, the number of skilled workers increases and the number of employees receiving training also increases. The paper highlights how born-global firms are able to shift away from externalized, market-based approaches towards more internalized, commitment-based approaches in order to survive, adapt and grow

International Business as disciplinary tautology: an ontological perspective

The identity, legitimacy, and sustainability of international business (IB) as a research field are at stake. IB is being overtaken by the evolution of industries and technology, and critical voices challenge its distinctiveness and value. We identify IB’s ambiguous conceptual space, articulate the roots of the problem, and suggest a perspective for re-legitimizing the discipline. Specifically, we contend that redrawing legitimate knowledge boundaries for IB requires an ontological shift. In this respect, we promote a focus on the processual constitution of international entities across time and a reconceptualization of IB as the amalgamation of local and international forces. The perspective we advocate aims to counterbalance the disciplinary tautology suffered by current IB conceptualizations and to open up the discussion on boundary identification in the field

Being a chameleon Multiple identity as a means of uncovering perspectives on disability and impairment

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