A field study of team working in a new human supervisory control system

This paper presents a case study of an investigation into team behaviour in an energy distribution company. The main aim was to investigate the impact of major changes in the company on system performance, comprising human and technical elements. A socio-technical systems approach was adopted. There were main differences between the teams investigated in the study: the time of year each control room was studied (i.e. summer or winter),the stage of development each team was in (i.e. 10 months), and the team structure (i.e. hierarchical or heterarchical). In all other respects the control rooms were the same: employing the same technology and within the same organization. The main findings were: the teams studied in the winter months were engaged in more `planning’ and `awareness’ type of activities than those studies in the summer months. Newer teams seem to be engaged in more sharing of information than older teams, which maybe indicative of the development process. One of the hierarchical teams was engaged in more `system-driven’ activities than the heterarchical team studied at the same time of year. Finally, in general, the heterarchical team perceived a greater degree of team working culture than its hierarchical counterparts. This applied research project confirms findings from laboratory research and emphasizes the importance of involving ergonomics in the design of team working in human supervisory control

Characterization of the mode of action of a potent dengue virus capsid inhibitor

Dengue viruses (DV) represent a significant global health burden, with up to 400 million infections every year and around 500,000 infected individuals developing life-threatening disease. In spite of attempts to develop vaccine candidates and antiviral drugs, there is a lack of approved therapeutics for the treatment of DV infection. We have previously reported the identification of ST-148, a small-molecule inhibitor exhibiting broad and potent antiviral activity against DV in vitro and in vivo (C. M. Byrd et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 57:15–25, 2013, doi:10 .1128/AAC.01429-12). In the present study, we investigated the mode of action of this promising compound by using a combination of biochemical, virological, and imaging-based techniques. We confirmed that ST-148 targets the capsid protein and obtained evidence of bimodal antiviral activity affecting both assembly/release and entry of infectious DV particles. Importantly, by using a robust bioluminescence resonance energy transfer-based assay, we observed an ST-148-dependent increase of capsid self-interaction. These results were corroborated by molecular modeling studies that also revealed a plausible model for compound binding to capsid protein and inhibition by a distinct resistance mutation. These results suggest that ST-148-enhanced capsid protein self-interaction perturbs assembly and disassembly of DV nucleocapsids, probably by inducing structural rigidity. Thus, as previously reported for other enveloped viruses, stabilization of capsid protein structure is an attractive therapeutic concept that also is applicable to flaviviruses

THE ROLE OF INTERDEPENDENCE IN THE MICRO-FOUNDATIONS OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN: TASK, GOAL, AND KNOWLEDGE INTERDEPENDENCE

Interdependence is a core concept in organization design, yet one that has remained consistently understudied. Current notions of interdependence remain rooted in seminal works, produced at a time when managers’ near-perfect understanding of the task at hand drove the organization design process. In this context, task interdependence was rightly assumed to be exogenously determined by characteristics of the work and the technology. We no longer live in that world, yet our view of interdependence has remained exceedingly task-centric and our treatment of interdependence overly deterministic. As organizations face increasingly unpredictable workstreams and workers co-design the organization alongside managers, our field requires a more comprehensive toolbox that incorporates aspects of agent-based interdependence. In this paper, we synthesize research in organization design, organizational behavior, and other related literatures to examine three types of interdependence that characterize organizations’ workflows: task, goal, and knowledge interdependence. We offer clear definitions for each construct, analyze how each arises endogenously in the design process, explore their interrelations, and pose questions to guide future research

Perspectivas psicossociais para o estudo do cotidiano de trabalho

Cette étude visait à analyser le débat et l'approfondissement théorique et méthodologique développé dans les études sur la vie quotidienne au travail. L'investigation a démarré à partir du dialogue interdisciplinaire entre l'anthropologie du travail, l'ergologie et la psychologie sociale du travail et il a systématisé les contributions mutuels entre ces domaines scientifiques, leurs approches et leurs départs de la thématisation et l'appropriation de l'activité humaine au travail sous la perspective du quotidien. L'analyse comparative a mis en évidence des axes qui différencient les manières pour approcher l'objet, qui se réfèrent aux relations établies entre savoirs pratiques et technico-scientifiques et aux manières d'intervention sur les situations de travail. Les approches comparatives partagent l'intérêt de connaître le vrai travail, la valeur attribuée à les savoirs des travailleurs et la sensibilité aux dimensions micropolitiques du quotidien. On en conclut que la localisation dans chacun de ces axes dépend d'une plus grande ou plus petite affiliation à les traditions d'anthropologie ou d'ergonomie.Este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar el debate y la profundización teórica y metodológica desarrollada en los estudios acerca de la vida cotidiana en el trabajo. La investigación partió del diálogo interdisciplinario entre la antropología del trabajo, la ergología y la psicología social del trabajo y sistematizó las contribuciones mutuas entre eses campos científicos, sus aproximaciones y sus alejamientos de la tematización y la apropiación de la actividad humana en el trabajo bajo la perspectiva del cotidiano. El análisis comparativo destacó ejes que diferencian las formas de aproximación al objeto, que se refieren a las relaciones establecidas entre saberes prácticos y técnico-científicos y a los modos de intervención en las situaciones de trabajo. Los abordajes comparativos comparten el interés en conocer el trabajo real, el valor dado a los conocimientos de los trabajadores y la sensibilidad a las dimensiones micropolíticas del cotidiano. Se concluye que la localización en cada uno de eses ejes depende de la mayor o menor filiación a las tradiciones de la antropología o de la ergonomía.Este estudo teve por objetivo analisar o debate e o aprofundamento teórico e metodológico desenvolvido nos estudos sobre a vida cotidiana no trabalho. A investigação partiu do diálogo interdisciplinar entre a antropologia do trabalho, a ergologia e a psicologia social do trabalho e sistematizou as contribuições mútuas entre esses campos científicos, suas aproximações e seus afastamentos da tematização e da apropriação da atividade humana no trabalho sob a perspectiva do cotidiano. A análise comparativa destacou eixos que diferenciam as formas de aproximação ao objeto, que se referem às relações estabelecidas entre saberes práticos e técnico-científicos e aos modos de intervenção sobre as situações de trabalho. As abordagens comparativas compartilham o interesse em conhecer o trabalho real, o valor conferido aos conhecimentos dos trabalhadores e a sensibilidade às dimensões micropolíticas do cotidiano. Conclui-se que a localização em cada um desses eixos depende da maior ou menor filiação às tradições da antropologia ou da ergonomia.This study aimed to analyze the debate and the theoretical and methodological deepening of studies on daily life work. The investigation started from the interdisciplinary dialogue among anthropology of work, ergology, and social psychology of work and it systematized the mutual contributions among these scientific fields, their approximations and their departures from the thematization and appropriation of human activity at work from the perspective of daily life. The comparative analysis highlighted axes which differentiate the ways for approaching the object, that refer to the relations established between practical and technical-scientific kinds of knowledge and the modes of intervening on work situations. Comparative approaches share the interest in knowing the real work, the value attributed to workers' knowledge and sensitivity to the micropolitical dimensions of daily life. One concludes that the location in each of these axes depends on the greater or lesser affiliation to the traditions of anthropology or ergonomics

Olhar o cotidiano: percursos para uma psicologia social do trabalho

Resumo: O artigo esboça os percursos de pesquisas que têm levado a psicologia social do trabalho ao estudo do cotidiano laboral. Apresenta o cotidiano como campo de apreensão do real, partindo de uma discussão interdisciplinar sobre o tema, salientando seus aspectos de repetição e de ruptura e as relações entre dimensões micro e macrossociais. Localiza os esforços de constituir o cotidiano como objeto da psicologia social e aponta para as dificuldades de teorização desse objeto. Finalmente, discute as razões do reconhecimento do cotidiano como campo privilegiado de investigação para o projeto de uma psicologia social do trabalho, na medida em que favorece o reconhecimento das singularidades dos sentidos e dos significados construídos pelos trabalhadores, das formas de interação social, dos processos organizativos, da micropolítica, das práticas astuciosas construídas no interior de relações assimétricas de poder

The Evolution of Management Models: A Neo-Schumpeterian Theory

In the last century and a half, U.S. industry has seen the emergence of several different management models. We propose a theory of this evolution based on three nested and interacting processes. First, we identify several successive waves of technological revolution, each of which prompted a corresponding wave of change in the dominant organizational paradigm. Second, nested within these waves, each of these organizational paradigms emerged through two successive cycles—a primary cycle that generated a new management model making the prior organizational paradigm obsolete, and a secondary cycle that generated another model that mitigated the dysfunctions of the primary cycle’s model. Third, nested within each cycle is a problem-solving process in which each model’s development passed through four main phases: (1) identification of a widespread organizational and management problem, (2) creation of innovative managerial concepts that offer various solutions to this problem, (3) emergence and theorization of a new model from among these concepts, and (4) dissemination and diffusion of this model. By linking new models’ emergence to specific technological revolutions, we can explain changes in their contents. By integrating a dialectical account of the paired cycles with an account of the waves of paradigm change, we can see how apparently competing models are better understood as complementary pairs in a common paradigm. And by unpacking each model’s phases of development, we can identify the roles played by various actors and management concepts in driving change in the models’ contents and see the agency behind these structural changes

Scholarly Impact: A Pluralistic Conceptualisation.

We critically assess a common approach to scholarly impact that relies almost exclusively on a single stakeholder (i.e., other academics). We argue that this approach is narrow and insufficient, and thereby threatens the credibility and long-term sustainability of the management research community. We offer a solution in the form of a broader and novel conceptual and measurement framework of scholarly impact: a pluralist perspective. It proposes actions that depart from the current win–lose and zero-sum views that lead to false trade-offs such as research versus practice, rigor versus relevance, and research versus service. Our proposed pluralist conceptualization can be instrumental in enabling business schools and other academic units to clarify their strategic direction in terms of which stakeholders they are trying to affect and why, the way future scholars are trained, and the design and implementation of faculty performance management systems. We argue that the adoption of a pluralist conceptualization of scholarly impact can increase motivation for engaged scholarship and design-science research that is more conducive to actionable knowledge as opposed to exclusive career-focused advances, enhance the relevance and value of our scholarship, and thereby help to narrow the much-lamented chasm between research and practice

Fc engineered ACE2-Fc is a potent multifunctional agent targeting SARS-CoV2

Joining a function-enhanced Fc-portion of human IgG to the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2 produces an antiviral decoy with strain transcending virus neutralizing activity. SARS-CoV-2 neutralization and Fc-effector functions of ACE2-Fc decoy proteins, formatted with or without the ACE2 collectrin domain, were optimized by Fc-modification. The different Fc-modifications resulted in distinct effects on neutralization and effector functions. H429Y, a point mutation outside the binding sites for FcγRs or complement caused non-covalent oligomerization of the ACE2-Fc decoy proteins, abrogated FcγR interaction and enhanced SARS-CoV-2 neutralization. Another Fc mutation, H429F did not improve virus neutralization but resulted in increased C5b-C9 fixation and transformed ACE2-Fc to a potent mediator of complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) against SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) expressing cells. Furthermore, modification of the Fc-glycan enhanced cell activation via FcγRIIIa. These different immune profiles demonstrate the capacity of Fc-based agents to be engineered to optimize different mechanisms of protection for SARS-CoV-2 and potentially other viral pathogens