Enhancing the Pace and Process of Change: Realizing Outcomes Through Leadership Empathy

Empathy is a key component of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence. Based on the psychotherapy and neuroscience research of empathy, it has been determined to be a key element of successful change outcomes. Correlating psychotherapy outcomes through an empathic approach to organization change, it is believed empathy can provide leaders with a deeper understanding of follower needs and concerns – especially those which may not be easily identified. Furthermore, an empathic approach results in individuals feeling understood and cared for, which can offer a multitude of benefits for leaders and followers in organizations undergoing change. Empathic leadership is a critical component to behavioral change that can be thoughtfully applied to the organizational setting to enable successful change outcomes. A Leader’s Empathic Sourcebook is a result of this study

Heterogeneous effects of spinoff foundations on the means of technology transfer: the role of past academic-industry collaborations

Focusing on the Italian population of academic entrepreneurs, we analyze the effect of establishing a spinoff firm on researchers' attitudes towards carrying out other activities in collaboration with firms, namely, co-publishing and co-patenting. We investigate the heterogeneity in this effect in terms of existing collaborations with firms in the pre-spinoff period. Using a counterfactual analysis on subgroups, we verify that academic entrepreneurs with previous publications with firms diminish their co-publishing and increase their co-patenting after founding a spinoff. Conversely, academic entrepreneurs who had no previous publications with firms increase their co-publishing and decrease their co-patenting. We maintain that such results are related to academics' learning processes connected with their previous technology transfer activities. The policy implications are related to technology transfer aims and contradict the idea that promoting spinoffs is an appropriate "one-size-fits-all" initiative

Changing structures in transnational research networks: an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on China's scientific collaborations

Research networks play pivotal roles in the creation and diffusion of knowledge. It is widely acknowledged that frontier research tends to cluster around transnational research networks (TRNs), which also represent strategic tools for nurturing innovation in R&D-intensive companies. Therefore, they are crucial for promoting the rapid development of the knowledge economy in underdeveloped countries. In this context, China's experience is particularly relevant because the country has invested heavily in knowledge production, which is arguably one of the most important structural changes at the global level in recent decades, with important implications for the division of labor and trade among countries. The country has been investing in order to become the scientific world leader, and in this transition, research collaboration, in particular with other countries, can become strategic. In this work, we analyze whether COVID-19 and related research have affected the shape of the network and the intensity of collaborations involving China in the field of health studies, comparing it to the case of the U.S. as the global leader in research (Fry et al., 2020). In particular, we wish to assess whether COVID-19-related research has pushed toward larger and more intensive collaborations internationally than before the pandemic or whether a tendency to closure has prevailed has prevailed. This also means understanding whether COVID-19, as a global phenomenon, has affected China in rising as an international research leader. To do so, we built an original dataset of international, coauthored publications involving China or the U.S. in selected health research fields. Our analysis first shows that COVID-19 research has assumed specific features distinct from other topics in the same research field, shaping research networks in a peculiar way for both China and the U.S. Second, for China, COVID-19 does not appear to have represented an opportunity to further climb up the international research ladder, as it has attracted a relatively low and more volatile number of collaborators from different countries

The Mn site in Mn-doped Ga-As nanowires: an EXAFS study

We present an EXAFS study of the Mn atomic environment in Mn-doped GaAs nanowires. Mn doping has been obtained either via the diffusion of the Mn used as seed for the nanowire growth or by providing Mn during the growth of Au-induced wires. As a general finding, we observe that Mn forms chemical bonds with As but is not incorporated in a substitutional site. In Mn-induced GaAs wires, Mn is mostly found bonded to As in a rather disordered environment and with a stretched bond length, reminiscent of that exhibited by MnAs phases. In Au-seeded nanowires, along with stretched Mn-As coordination we have found the presence of Mn in a Mn-Au intermetallic compound.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Semiconductor Science and Technology. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at doi:10.1088/0268-1242/27/8/08500

Role of endoscopy in lateral skull base approaches to the petrous apex

Objective: The aim of this article is to study the role and advantages of combined microscopic/endoscopic procedures or exclusive endoscopic approaches in the treatment of petrous apex pathologies. Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective case series analysis. We included patients affected by pathologies of the petrous apex, who underwent microscopic/endoscopic-assisted or exclusive endoscopic procedures. Patient and pathology characteristics and surgical data (focusing on the involvement of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and facial nerve by the disease) were collected. Residual disease, detected through the endoscopic check, and the feasibility of endoscopic residual tumor removal were also evaluated. Finally, facial nerve and hearing functions were assessed pre- and postoperatively. Results: The records of 75 patients undergoing lateral skull base surgery for petrous apex lesions, from May 2009 to March 2019, were collected. In 17 out of 75 patients, an exclusive endoscopic procedure was possible. The remaining 58 patients underwent a combined microscopic/endoscopic approach. In 15 cases, residual disease was found and removed endoscopically at the end of the microscopic procedure; in eight cases, the residual disease was medial and/or inferior to the horizontal segment of the ICA, while in two cases, it was located in the fundus of the internal auditory canal. In five cases, it involved the labyrinthine segment of the facial nerve. Conclusion: Petrous apex surgery remains a traditional microscopic-based surgery, but the recent advent of endoscopic surgery has permitted an improvement in radicality minimizing the manipulation of neurovascular structures

Investigating the linkages between industrial policies and M&A dynamics: Evidence from China

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As hereafter) have been widely examined in the economic and business literature under many perspectives. However, the industry-level view, specifically the relation between industrial policies and M&A waves at the sectoral level, has remained rather unexplored. This article contributes to fill this gap by empirically investigating the relation between selective industrial policies and M&A waves at the industry level in China. Referring to the four Five Year Plans covering the period 1996-2015, we explore whether being identified as an emerging sector in these plans generates positive or negative changes in the number of M&As. We reiterate the analysis according to the different types of M&As (vertical, horizontal or conglomerate) and the different natures of the acquirer (SOEs or private). Our results suggest that policies can differentially affect M&A waves according to the type of M&A. Moreover, while private firms are more responsive to both horizontal and vertical integration in emerging sectors, SOEs are more prone to engage in vertical M&As. We discuss the possible rationales behind the different behaviors. We also draw general policy implications on strategic industrial policy and market restructuring